Scotiabank NIFCA Performing Arts Dance Press Conference

QUALITY OF DANCE ENTRIES ON THE UPSWING

The quality of entries in the Scotiabank NIFCA Performing Arts category of Dance is on the upswing, so says Mr. John Hunte, Cultural Officer for Dance, and he attributes this increase to the year-round programmes/activities for example the Summer Internship Programme produced by the NCF Dance Desk.

Mr. Hunte also credits the Foundation’s growing synergies between various dance academies as well as programmes at BCC and EBCCI, along with a general shift in the perception of the discipline as an art form and creative expression, as other reasons for the rise.

At the very cusp of the development of our cultural industries, Hunte said that the discipline has seen trends in the increased number of BCC, EBCCI and University graduates as choreographers and performers; an increase in the number of males dancing and in the number of street dance entries in NIFCA; an increased number of collaborations and fusions between street dance and contemporary styles; a strong representation in African and Caribbean genres from Community Groups; a large number of solo and small group performances. The trends also revealed that the number of male solos has eclipsed the female solos.

By the end of the extended deadline Friday, August 29th 2014, the Scotiabank NIFCA Performing Arts Dance category had received 72 entries and two more arrived by the deadline for schools on Monday, September 13th, 2014.

From September 5th to September 21st, 2014 preliminaries were held at Combermere School and the judges also visited the HMP Dodds to adjudicate on a Caribbean Dance Entry by the female dance team ‘Resilient’.

At the end of the Preliminary process, following a few cancellations and no shows – the judges saw 53 dance presentations. Of those who came, one entry was also seen by the NIFCA Theatre judges and will be judged at NIFCA semi-finals as a mix-media piece.   In total, 49 pieces advanced to the semi-final round, this is 9 more than in 2013. Ten of these are junior entries and according to the Cultural Officer for Dance, there were no professional entries.