JCDC Deaf Dance Festival on April 27

Some 80 children and adults across the island will compete for top honours in the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission’s (JCDC) deaf dance festival.

The event will be held on Wednesday, April 27 at the Little Theatre in Kingston, beginning at 4:00 p.m.

The deaf dance is being executed with assistance from the Jamaica Association for the Deaf (JAD) and the Advancing Deaf Kidz Jamaica (ADKJ) Project.

It is part of the month-long Performing Arts National Championships, which got underway on April 5 at the Little Theatre. Performers are competing for medals and trophies in the areas of music, traditional folk forms, speech, drama and dance.

Dance Development Specialist, JCDC, Jennifer Garwood, told JIS News that the deaf community is just as creative and talented as the rest of the population.

She said it is important that they are included in the competition staged annually  by the JCDC to showcase and promote the creative talents and expressions of Jamaicans.

“There is a need to embrace this community in the competition and over the past nine years it has proven fruitful, because it gives them a sense of belonging. They are gifted too. They are talented too. Why not use them?  she said.

Mrs. Garwood lauded the successes of the programme, noting that several students, who have participated in previous competitions, are now dance teachers.

“This shows a development because these children can now impart what they have learnt to others.  The competition helps not only with the physical side but also the psychosocial side, as it assists in boosting their self-esteem,” she noted further.

For this year’s competition, Mrs. Garwood said the JCDC is using the medium of dance to spread the message of positive parenting.

She noted that among the competitive pieces is a depiction of the strong, healthy and positive father-daughter relationship.

The JAD and the ADKJ communicated the parenting concept to the dancers, while the JCDC provided instruction on the various dance genres and how to build their story- lines.

The Dance Development Specialist said that after the competition, the students will be asked to perform their pieces at other schools, parish activities and JCDC events.

Meanwhile, the JCDC is encouraging members of the public to attend the dance festival and support the performers.

The schedule for the month-long Performing Arts National Championships is: Traditional Folk forms, April 12-15; Speech, April 18-20; Drama, April 21-22 and Dance, April 25-26 and 28-29.