It has been a while since I’ve gone to a dance show, so when I heard of Classique’s latest show themed “Dance Like You Do- Dancehall Vibes” featuring Nadata, winner of the HJTV Feel The Beat Competition, I just knew that it was a show I had to be at. My love for dancing and dancehall aside, I just needed something different to do with my girlfriends on a Saturday night. Ha!
The show was held at the National Cultural Centre and like all Classique shows it was attended by a large number of persons. The show though dubbed “Dancehall Vibes” featured in the first half a collection of African dances, each depicting African struggles over the years. The dancers were able to display through these dances their creativity and passion for the art. Also they expertly depicted the blood, sweat and tears of African hardships. The choreographies were profound and moving. The dancers, both males and females were masterful in their techniques, lines and all.
However, in my humble opinion more work has to be done when it comes to maintaining coordination.
In one of the all male dances, the men got very sensual showing their six packs and gyrating like there was no tomorrow. They were dancing to “You Give Me Fever”, during the song they walked into the audience and selected the newly crowned Miss Guyana Jamzone, Ayanna Harris, took her on staged, seated her and then all of them decided to give her a lap dance. Ohhhh Dearrrrrr!!!! She was the luckiest lady of the evening.
I was a bit disappointed that the show wasn’t entirely dancehall, but on second thoughts I’m very happy to have been exposed to that side and style of dance from Classique.
In between parts there was a 15 minutes intermission that lasted for close to 30 minutes. For a minute, the patrons thought that they had forgotten us and started to clap in a bid to hurry things up.
Eventually, and somewhat secretly, we were transported from Africa to Jamaica. The second part opened with a female doctor telling her husband that she would not be coming home tonight because there was a very serious accident and she was needed at the hospital. But really there was no accident, she was not needed at the hospital, she just needed to turn from doctor to dancehall queen and go to “Club Tun Up” with her friends (credit fuda). Her husband, understood perfectly and wished her well, because he too needed to be away to spend time with his girlfriend on the side.
The entire second half took place in “Club Tun Up”. The waiters in preparing to open the club opened with the first dancehall piece and as the club got packed, we moved from one dance to the next. The Club in its washroom area had three signs that read – ‘male’, ‘female’ and ‘other’, so I found it rather confusing every time the owner of the club refused to allow the ‘other’ in the club. The ‘other’ or I should correctly say the person that played the role of the homosexual was one of the highlights of the evening with his moves and antics. The doctor/dancehall queen and her husband’s girlfriend met in the club and a brawl –in dance- started. The second half was very unique and exhilarating to look at. Persons were literally at the edge of their seat waiting to see what would happen next.
The huge shocker came when the husband came into the club and the ladies – in full wifey vs. matey style – started to fight – in dance – wig pulling off and all. The husband completely forgot that the two ladies existed when he laid eyes on ‘the other’. That half and ultimately the show ended with them (the husband and the ‘other’) holding hands and skipping around to Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.
What an end to the show, the crowd went crazy!!
It was an excellent show in my view. The Classique Dance Company is on their way to becoming the Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre of Guyana (…eventually).
By Slimchick