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NIFCA Dance Finals maintains excellence and unfolds ‘discoveries’ 

The curtain came down on the 2023 NIFCA Performing Arts Finals with a night filled with wonderful choreographies executed by dancers who used their bodies to weave stories of love, pain, sorrow, friendship, courage, healing, music, mental health, and heritage all enhanced by costumes, lights, music or spoken word. 

The NIFCA Dance Finals, themed: Sankofa: A Night of Discoveries, was a celebration of movement, an homage to those dancers who came before and a tangible demonstration of what the future holds in genres ranging from ballet, to street dance, lyrical jazz, to modern contemporary and African and Caribbean folk and praise dance. The Finals saw a total of 26 acts with eight making their debut.

Hundreds of dance aficionados, NIFCA stalwarts, family and friends gathered in the Frank Collymore Hall to watch the finalists go for gold and one of the many prizes offered in this creative art including the prestigious $35,000 Prime Minister’s Scholarship, The Richild Springer Award of Excellence and The Madame Ifill Award of Excellence.

This year, as part of NIFCA’s 50th anniversary celebrations, entrants also have a chance to cop The Gene Carson Award of Excellence and The 50th Anniversary of NIFCA Award for the Most Outstanding Presentation in NIFCA Dance.

During the four-hour show held on Thursday, November 16, soloists, duets, community groups, one secondary school, and dance schools stepped on stage to face the judges in 26 performances starting with The Ellerslie School doing a Sophia Lee choreography titled BLS Wise Vanguard and ending with Gem.in.I Project’s Unbroken, a Diane Brathwaite choreography which showed the many ways the COVID-19 pandemic and the fluctuating experiences impacted us a people.

Lee alsochoreographed Haynesville Youth Club’s two entries – Celebrating Our Heritage, a salute to the 160-year-old Barbados Landship and Nigbe Gbekekbi, a lively dance in the African category hailing African ancestry.

Also, among the groups performing were Pearls Dance Academy whose Culture gave snapshots of Barbadian culture intertwined with the engaging, fun tale of courtship between boy and girl all done to an original musical arrangement of Cultural Ambassador Dr. The Most Honourable Anthony ‘Gabby’ Carter’s classics Bridgetown Market and Emmerton.

Dancers from the 58-year-old Barbados Dance Centre seemed to thoroughly enjoy performing Rhythmic Rhapsody and Dance Again as much as the audience enjoyed watching them execute the ballet and jazz entries respectively. 

In their third piece, Mother Nature’s Energy, they brought awareness to not only the importance of taking care of the earth, but how reliant humans are on it.

Although not chronicling the history of songs popular and dances, Multifarious Dance Crew’s B.F.A.B (Born from a Boom Box), told a story of music’s impact on an individual’s life, specifically and a nation generally encasing it as a “science experiment gone wrong” starting and ending with short clips from the popular 90s cartoon Pinky and The Brain.

Dance as a powerful method of communication and community was displayed by S. Neverson Dance Company’s And So We Danse; Gentle Steps Arts Academy’s had questions in Who Do You Judge and brought plenty attitude in Ballroom Babeez; Bajans in Movement represented different elements of time in a choreography of the same name and K-Eve’s (School of Performing Arts) celebrated sensuality, grace and strength, those aspects of womanhood and sisterhood in Feminine Synergy.

The soloists also depicted various themes in powerful and gripping performances.

In Showstoppa inspired by the movie The Next Step, Anika Small showed her prowess in the in the self-choreographed entry and in Unrequited Love which she choreographed, Shaunell Neverson conveyed pain and other emotions from the unreturned love she was grappling with, effectively.

Faith Williams’ self-choreographed entries – Speak The Name, performed under Praise Academy of Dance banner, and It’s Back which portrayed the journey of a woman fighting against her worst fear were profound. 

She also performed Bittersweet Chapter One, as part of a duo with Akil Ifill, an educator making his dance debut because he wants to see more males competing in the artform. They depicted a love tangle between a man and a woman.

Kemal Marshall in State of Recovery, which he choreographed, explored the idea of recoveryas a never-ending process. He also explored the themes ofstruggle of mental health and grief among young people in a dynamic contemporary dance work showcased by Dreaming Black Boy Productionz in One More Day, the underlying message of which was that support from loved ones can help through difficult times and emotions.

That theme was also evident in Friendship Community Centre’s The Box and Issachar ArtsRescue, both duos, which dealt with suicide and strong support while Élevé Performing Arts Centre’s Healing examined the sorrow and anger that someone may feel as they navigate their healing process with the hope of a better tomorrow.

The Journey by Dancin’ Africa’s Jada Best showed that no matter the obstacles you face, you can overcome them by not quitting and in Kendra Leacock’s Rescue, she showed that leaning on God and His promise to guide and protect could carry bring you through any trials and tribulations. 

NIFCA Dance Finals clearly demonstrated that the excellence synonymous with the festival, is continuing. (PR)

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BEADING WORKSHOP FINISHES TODAY


Bishop Tarambawamwe runs Master Wire and Beadcraft, a South African company specialising in providing high-quality bead and wire products to both the local and international market. From growing up in Zimbabwe playing with wire cars as a child, to taking inspiration from nature for his amazing designs, he now brings his expertise to Barbados. The workshop features an all female group who will benefit from hands on training while learning how to monetise their new skillset on the way to becoming entrepreneurs.

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International Songwriting Camp

Twenty-eight cultural practitioners have reaped significant benefits from the International Songwriting Camp produced by the National Cultural Foundation (NCF).


Following intense practical, developmental and professional exercises facilitated by local and global premiers, the NCF-registered practitioners now have an increased understanding of the craft of global song writing, knowledge of publishing and songwriting, placements, licensing, and synching among other areas.


The sessions were held between September 30 and October 5, at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre where participants and producers had access to portable studios to turn penned lyrics into musical renditions of different beats and genres.


On Wednesday, the participants went on a field trip and were required to write a song for a commercial.

And on Saturday night, a listening session was held at the Sage Bar and Stage featuring the songs written and produced during the camp.


Singer and songwriter Casheda Dottin said she was grateful for the opportunity to participate in the comprehensive camp which has left her with a wealth of knowledge and skills which will take her career to another level.

“I am grateful to the NCF for bringing about this initiative to help creators improve their craft. It was such a phenomenal experience because not only were we able to do songwriting workrooms where we were working with different people, but every day we were able to experience working with different producers,” Dottin said.

She added: “And it was also interesting to see how I was able to gel with other writers and singers to create music. It was far from easy and sometimes it was very intense but we were all still able to work together to produce some wonderful music.”


Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Marley Kirton said it was an amazing experience obtaining advice and gaining knowledge from experienced professionals in the field.

“But at the same time it was so powerful to get to collaborate with local artistes who are established, growing, or trying to discover their careers. This camp is a reminder of the potential and talent among the younger generation here on the island.  My biggest lesson is learning not to hide my talents and that you should share them with those around you,” Kirton said.


The NCF came in for high praise for hosting the first songwriters camp of its kind which supports the realistic execution to reach the global standard which lends to reciprocation to earning sustainable income and reaching international standards.


Grammy Award-winning producer and composer Che Pope commended the NCF for investing in its creators.

“I don’t know if you realise that this is luxury. Many countries don’t have a ministry of culture and an NCF. There are only so many countries that invest in and care about the talent and the arts in their country.

“The US [United States] does not have a ministry of culture, the US does not give grants like Canada and places like Barbados. I hope you guys understand the opportunity that’s at hand,” Pope advised.


Composer, songwriter and producer Henk Pool was also impressed that the Government is investing in its talented young people.

Pool said while he would have passed on knowledge to the participants, he also benefited from interacting with them.

“I think the openness, warmth and talent of people was amazing. I travel around the world facilitating song writers’ camps everywhere and I would love to see Barbados song writers travelling around the world because the talent is absolutely there. They just need the chance to network and that’s why I love the Barbados government for doing this,” Pool said.


United Kingdom songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist Josh Wunderlich, signed to DWB Music, said this was his first time visiting Barbados and noted that working with the cultural practitioners during the camp helped him to gain a wealth of knowledge about the island’s culture.

“We have been sharing ideas and creating songs that are completely unique. No one has ever heard anything like the music created during the camp because this hasn’t been done before,” Wunderlich said.


Meanwhile, Business Development Officer, Music and Music for Film, at the NCF, Lisa Howell, said the successfully executed camp was well-received by the cultural practitioners who began reaping results from the first day.

Howell said the practitioners are now in a better position to write and produce internationally marketable songs.

“So I would say yes we met our goal for this round and hopefully we have the support to continue to facilitate programmes like this. Barbados rose to the occasion. I am really thankful that we had some of our local premier producers and songwriters facilitating. We had Dr Stedson ‘RPB’ Wiltshire who was so invested in showing up every day,” Howell said.

The business development officer added: “We had local producers like Dwain Antrobus, Peter Coppin, Darien Bailey and Simon Pipe who were also facilitators. So we not only brought in global experts in their field, but we also showed our own local premier practitioners in their respective fields and that made us feel good as the National Cultural Foundation.”  (PR)

Caption: from left to right – Singer/Songwriter Munirah Nailah, Gospel Artiste/Songwriter/Producer James Cumberbatch, Singer/Songwriter Dania, DWB Songwriter/Producer Pete Barringer, Songwriter/Producer/ Gospel Art

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BPS Crop Over Do-Flicky Costume Competition Winners Announced

Five winning teams have emerged from the recently held prize-giving ceremony of the inaugural ‘Barbados Postal Service (BPS) 2024 Crop Over Do-Flicky Costume Competition’.

The winners hail from the Post Offices of St. Joseph; St. George; Welches Road; St. Philip and the General Post Office in Cheapside.

The overall winner of the competition is the eight-member team of the General Post Office’s Accounts Section, who each received an Island Safari Tour. Second place went to the Welches Road Post Office, third was the St. Philip Post Office, fourth was the St. George Post Office and fifth place went to the St. Joseph Post Office.

Winning Teams (flanked by BPS management), of the inaugural ‘BPS Crop Over Do-Flicky Costume Competition’, from the GPO; Welches Road PO; St. Philip PO; St. George PO and the St. Joseph PO.

Postmaster General, Joann Busby, in her address to the winners, stated, “We look forward to many more events like this in the future, celebrating both our history and commitment to excellence.”

Concept Creator of the competition, BPS Marketing Officer Neiai Hall said, “This competition aims to showcase the creativity and cultural expression of our staff, through costume design and performance. The theme of the competition is rooted in our rich heritage and the vibrant spirit of Crop Over.

On left – ‘BPS Crop Over Do-Flicky Costume Competition’ 2nd Place Winning Costume, On right – ‘BPS Crop Over Do-FFlicky Costume Competition’ 3rd Place Winning Costume.

“We have encouraged participants to design costumes that not only display their creativity but also incorporate elements that represent the services offered by the BPS”.

The judging criteria consisted of Sustainability; Creativity; Depiction of a BPS Service; Originality; Portrayal; Video Creativity and Originality; Practicality and Inclusivity and Descriptive Write-Up. 

Plaques were presented to each of the winning teams and the St. Joseph Post Office also received the Postmaster General’s special award for Outstanding Advertising Video in the competition. (PR/GIS)

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