Judging in Community Dance Fest approaching

By Hallam Hope

The preliminaries are over and it is time for the bright lights and judging in the 2009-2010 Community Dance Fest.

The dancing programme moves into full swing with the Zone Finals, starting at Colleridge and Parry School for the Northern Zone on December 14^th.

The preliminaries for dance groups across the island were designed to select the best performers from each zone, provide the dancers and their management teams with an informal warm-up, at which the judges offer feedback on strengths and weaknesses, as well as improvements.

This will be enhanced with a workshop for participating groups which has been scheduled for the Errol Barrow Centre on Sunday, December 6^th by the Community Development Department (CDD), which is responsible for organising the events.

The Zone Finals will also see dancers being judged at Foundation School on December 15^th when it is the turn of those groups from the southern parishes to strut their stuff. Judging for St. Michael North will be held at the auditorium of the St. Michael School on December 16^th while participants from St. Michael South will be judged at the same venue on the following day.

A spokesperson for the Community Development Department (CDD) noted that admission for the Zone Finals is free and members of the community as well as friends and supporters of the participating groups are encouraged to attend in their numbers.

The finals will be held at the Garry Sobers Gymnasium on January 21^st. Tickets will be available from box offices to be announced. No tickets will be sold at the door.

The final preliminary or audition at Parkinson School last month for the St. Michael Zone attracted the largest number of groups from the – nine. Apart from the youthful all-female group, Little People Fun and Frolic, the participating groups were all males. Xtra Hype, winner last year, was among those performing and is determined to earn top place again this round. Generally the dancing was very well received by the community, organisers and fans present.

The Community Development Department is encouraging participation of small businesses and the private sector in the form of small donations in cash or kind, give-aways and sponsorship for the events.

Persons interested in Community Dance Fest are asked to visit the website of the Community Development Department at www.comdev.gov.bb for updates on the dance festival as well as activities and programmes of the Department.