MY HEART WAS exceedingly glad.
I sat there in the front row at the Frank Collymore Hall on Monday night and it sang, not so much because it was the Digicel NIFCA Performing Arts Finals but it was actually the first time in two seasons I was getting a taste of it.
It is no secret that NIFCA is my absolute favourite of the festivals in Barbados, and it is always a pleasure to immerse myself in it no matter which hat I happen to be wearing.
So what was so special about Monday, you ask?
To make a long story short, the very first performance made my night! And were it not for the fact that I happened to be working, I could have happily left the Hall by 7:15 p.m. or so.
There is one song out of Trinidad Carnival 2014 that I just love. Carnival is almost here again and I’m not yet tired of hearing Farmer Nappy’s Big People Party. It’s the kind of song that makes me want to buss a wine every time I hear it! To borrow from Lead Pipe & Saddis I be feeling ah feeling!
Needless to say, I did not rest until I got it as a ringtone, and while my boy Biggie Irie took over the main ring, Big People Party still tells me when one of the special people in my life is calling.
So I’m there in the front and it took great effort to keep my backside still in the seat with my hands close to my lap and around my tools.
To their credit, the members of SKF Steel Sounds did an excellent job of the Jason Williams arrangement as far as my admittedly biased ears were concerned. But even if they didn’t, I like the song bad, bad and it would still have sounded sweet. Thank God I wasn’t there as a judge!
But as one act rolled into the other and I singled out some I felt could never have made it to the Finals stage in earlier times, one of the few difficulties I have with NIFCA came into my consciousness – repeatedly.
I am not fond of the practice of dedicating a night in the Finals to a single discipline and less so in these increasingly tough times. The change has been in effect for several seasons, but I maintain that the multi-discipline approach makes for a more entertaining night and offers more value for money.
Monday was not sold out, and there were even more empty seats in the second half with the exit of a sizeable group which had come to support a particular act. I submit that it would have been a fuller house if patrons could have got a little bit of dance, and theatre arts along with the music.
I have heard the arguments from producer the National Cultural Foundation (NCF) about taking on the suggestion made from the stakeholders, and about the logistics involved in running the show smoothly, but while I understand, I remain unconvinced particularly in the case of the latter.
Technical officer at the NCF, Dorsie Boyce, and his team have earned lots of props over the years and I generally concur, so if they could have pulled off multidisciplinary Finals in the past with less high-tech equipment, they should certainly be able to do so with greater efficiency now.
I continue to hear feedback from patrons who, to my mind, should be the most important of the stakeholders since they are paying. They are yearning for variety to be brought back, and the cries are louder when the night is perceived to be a bit on the unexciting side.
As demonstrated with the introduction of the youth night, pulling off a multidiscipline show is possible and economically viable. The decision to be made is therefore obvious to me, but God willing I wait to see what next year’s festival brings.
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