DAYS AHEAD of the start, the first two nights of the 2014 NIFCA Performing Arts Finals are already sold out. The Scotiabank NIFCA Dance Final tickets were the first to go, followed closely by the Sagicor NIFCA Juniors Final.
Indeed it was the juniors’ growing following and the audience attendance that necessitated a need for a dedicated night for the young performers. This is the second consecutive year that the National Cultural Foundation (NCF) will be staging a Finals night to showcase the talent of the Juniors in the performing arts. This mixed-discipline night is expected to include performances by five dance groups and ten schools.
At the beginning of the season, each desk of the NCF’s cultural development department announced a number of shifts in trends for their respective disciplines. The Scotiabank NIFCA Dance competition saw an increase in the number of male entrants in the Urban/Street category along with a growing number of collaborations and fusions between urban and contemporary styles.
Digicel Theatre Arts saw an increase in the number of spoken word entries. While music, also sponsored by Digicel, recorded the largest number of entries in the performing arts category with its 143 submissions and an increase in the number of original pieces. This year, 56 original pieces composed and arranged by local musicians were adjudged in the NIFCA 2014 competition.
The NIFCA Performing Arts Finals will begin this Friday with the Sagicor Junior Finals and will continue from Sunday November 2 to Tuesday November 4. The Finals are set to take place at the Frank Collymore Hall from 7 p.m. nightly. The doors will be opened at 6 p.m. with the Balcony Book Fairs, where local and Caribbean selections and the most recent Winning Words Anthology will be on sale. (NS)
