Guyana unveils presentation for CARIFESTA Lacked essential linkages Stabroek News August 15, 2000 The Guyana contingent emerged from its camp on Sunday evening after more than more than one month of rehearsals to present GUYFESTA 2000 - Guyana's presentation to the Caribbean Festival of Arts (CARIFESTA) V11. But as the curtains of the National Cultural Centre (NCC) closed at 2230hrs, the question that kept coming up was `Is this 25-member group ready for this national exhibition of art and talent?' Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Gail Teixeira had informed reporters at a press briefing at her office on July 14, that ".. we are weaving a one-act play in our presentation.. . to show the linkages between all our peoples, art forms and dances." However, the almost two-hour show, lacked the essential weaving and linkages. The artistes dressed in the colours of the Golden Arrowhead - in two instances, the black was missing from the costumes - presented what can be best described as a variety show. There was no narration and the items just went one into the other. For the Guyanese audience, that might be fine but for the foreign audience, a little background would definitely help. One case where this was evident was Francis Farrier's song "Me Caffee in de Morning". There was mumbling in the half-filled auditorium about its link to the Guyanese heritage, considering it followed close on the heels of "Dance of the Peoples". In the latter case, the decision by the ministry to rely on amateurs, posed a difficulty for the `Beautiful Land, Wonderful People' presentation. The four Amerindian girls dancing their traditional piece were very shy and they appeared uncomfortable. In fact, for the five minutes they were on stage, they made no eye contact with the audience. This was a quality the majority of the cast possessed. Very outstanding was the choreography to `Beautiful Guyana' danced by Jerusha Dos Santos and `Old Higue' portrayed by Lavern Fredrick. The folks songs medley was one of the programme's strong points, but Merlyn Hunte needs a little more attitude for the part of `Jane engage'. The artistic director needs to bear in mind "too much of something is as bad as too little of it". `Old Higue', the `Amerindian Dance', and `Drumology' all seemed to suffer from this problem. The drummers who are part of Guyana's contingent to CARIFESTA V11. (Lawrence Fanfair photo) The team which departs Guyana today needs a little more to stand out from the more than 30 countries that will be in St. Kitts-Nevis for CARIFESTA V11. The members to represent Guyana are: Raymon Cummings, Coordinator; Francis Farrier, Artistic Director; Claude `Sonny' Ault, Director of Music; Linda Griffith, Director of Dance; Winston Benn, steel pan; Trevor John, keyboard; Merlyn Hunte and Abdool Haniff, vocalists; dancers Jerusha Dos Santos, Lavern Frederick, Lisa Rogers, Padmini Lalbachan, Miriam Loyola, Wendy Schuman, Rayon Gonputh, Susanna Simon, Trevor Blackett; drummers Lackrania Sookraj, Bernel Thomas, Oswyn Mckenzie, Learie Mckenzie, Raghunandan, Gavin Lynch, Mark Cyrus and John Jones on the fife/flute. Team members were picked on the basis of their competence after ministry selectors visited various parts of the country. CARIFESTA VII takes place from August 17 to 26. (Charlene Stuart) Follow the goings-on in Guyana in Guyana Today