The recent performance featured five of the pieces from their repertoire. Three of the pieces, 'Sankofa-Ja' (choreographed by Professor Kariamu Welsh Asante), 'Evolution' (choreographed by Abeldo 'Tokie' [Monika Lawrence]) and 'African Nite' (choreographed by Monica Lawrence assisted by Orville Hall) were added to the ensemble's repertoire this year. '[Liza]' weaves together the stories and music from 'Linstead Market', 'Mout-a-Massie Liza' and 'Every time me Memba Liza' to tell the story of a young girl who becomes disaffected with country life and goes off to the city.
Friday night also doubled as a welcome party and was dubbed 'Inferno' for all the festival patrons to party to a few of Jamaica's finest entertainers. The night's DJs straight from the rock were DJ Marvin, Christuff from Renaissance, and Fame FM's DJ Nicco, who afforded patrons the opportunity to party the night away to the latest dance hits while mingling with a few of South Florida's socialites and movers and shakers. 'Dubbed the biggest Caribbean food festival in the United States, the Jamaican Jerk Festival has the reputation for delivering an experience of the highest quality to patrons'
ATLANTA, Georgia: The Jamaican community in Atlanta, commenced a week long series of activities to celebrate Jamaica's 43rd year of independence with a Thanksgiving service at the Holy Cross Episcopal Church Hall on Sunday, July 31, 2005. Approximately three hundred Jamaicans and well wishers were in attendance. The sermon was delivered by Bishop Charles DuFour, Roman Catholic Bishop of Montego Bay. Jamaica's Honorary Consul to Atlanta, Vin Martin, read the Prime Minister's message. The first lesson was read by Allan Alberga, President of the Atlanta Jamaican Association and the second lesson was read by Tamara Cox. Union of Jamaican Organizations in Atlanta is comprised of Atlanta Jamaican Association, Atlanta Montego Bay Sister Cities, Benevolent Missions of Atlanta, Calabar High School Alumni Association, Clarendon College Alumni Association, Caribbean Sports and Social Club, Integrity Children's Fund, Kingston College Alumni Association, Queen's High School Alumni Association, St. Hugh's High School Alumni Association, Carilanta Players, Tropical Sports Club and United for Jamaica.
Just when patrons may have thought the party was coming to a close, Byron Lee and the Dragonaires returned to the stage at 2 a.m., and gave the St. Bess patrons a blast from the past. The band did old soca/calypso favourites like, 'Butterfly', 'It's Carnival' and 'Dolla Wine'. When the band, however did another of their popular songs, 'Soca Train', patrons needed no instructions for this one, as they immediately assumed the position and formed a soca train around the venue. With women in front and men behind, the train went around the venue, but soon broke up when [Keisha] changed gears and did 'Passe', another popular soca song. After the band did their slate of songs, they showed the crowd just how versatile they were, as they did a few renditions from a Jamaican collection of reggae songs.
Plans are underway for St Lucia's Carnival to be held later this year were outlined at a press breakfast meeting by Teddy Francis, Director of Culture, St. Lucia. One of the highlights of this year's carnival scheduled for July 4 -- 20, will be the focus on cultural costumes. "We are putting emphasis on ensuring that the costumes reflect the theme of the carnival, so that our carnival can be differentiated from other carnivals, even though nothing is wrong with other carnivals," Francis said.
-, "We want more than St. Lucians coming out," said Ted Francis, director of the St. Lucia Cultural Development Foundation, "and towards that end we have put together special combination trips to carnival that will include tours of the island." "The mid-February celebration was complicated," Francis explained, citing St. Lucia's traditional four-day New Year's celebration, observance of its independence and "the shadow of the Trinidad and Tobago carnival."
