Iron butterflies flutter in Pegasus garden

Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writer

Saturday night's Dahlia Repole Foundation event Iron Butterfly in the garden at The Jamaica Pegasus could have wallowed in sappiness and crashed under the weight of its own wings, metal's tautness being no replacement for gossamer's inherent grace.

Interwoven into the campaign to increase awareness of pancreatic cancer, the advertised performers were all female. It was expected, then, that there would be directives of detection and urgings of strength - specifically of the female kind. And there was. But Iron Butterfly easily cracked the cocoon of a 'cause' and soared on the strength of its performances, while not neglecting the 'pan can' (the shortened name for pancreatic cancer which makes it no less lethal) cause that it was created for in the first place.

It helped significantly that Barbara Gloudon, Aloun Assamba and Joan Andrea Hutchinson, the performers in the first segment, did not perform as such; it was more like a talk among friends where one who is particularly experienced and eloquent is the focal point for a while.

'Sen Aundrew', the shibboleth for those who have walked the corridors at 6 Cecilio Avenue, featured heavily in Gloudon's reminiscing and Hutchinson noted wryly that she was asked to exit and then invited back as guest speaker a few years later. And it seemed there were quite a few alumni in the audience as well.

'Damn' and 'blast'

So after Anika Repole's explanation of the Dahlia Repole Foundation's activities and with the Cuffe duo of father and son, Michael Anthony marshalling the evening, Just Lyme (Living Years More Eagerly) dancers walked out clutching each other, danced and left with one member spreading golden butterfly wings behind her.

Gloudon recalled a 'damn' and 'blast' which escaped her in a class at 'Sen Aundrew' and being on the way to the office and sure doom. So she did what she had to - cry and tell her escort Miss Baxter, "I am truly contrite." To which Baxter replied, "if you are truly contrite there is nothing to do but go back to the form room."

There was laughter all around, which increased as Gloudon told the story of a relative who found herself in England as a nurse at a mental hospital. Left with the patients overnight, she found herself in the middle of a maniacal mob chanting "what has England come to, the black has got the keys", which Gloudon got the audience to chorus. At her wits' end and certainly in danger, the nurse remembered that it was bandied about that blacks ate people, so she drew herself up to her impressive full height and roared "arf!"

They scattered.

There was another 'Sen Aundrew' experience, the "pimply, panting and pubescent" Gloudon among a similarly 'triple p' posse that ogled a red MG packed with attractive fellows which was driven into the schoolyard. Summoned to the hall the following morning, they were reminded that "ladies are chased, they never chase." However, in parting Gloudon advised "ladies are chased sometimes, but sometimes if you chase you will get through."

Assamba showed both sides of her family through her grandmothers, donning a red hat with veil for Daisy Dougal (the determinedly white side) and a headwrap and apron for the Indian Ethlyn Mangaroo, tracing their lives to the point that her parents met, much to the disapproval of Daisy of whom Daisy was determinedly unafraid.

Drama

Gloria said about one of her children, "I am very proud to have seen her turn a lawyer and I know she going to do very well." That person was Assamba.

But she was not doing so well as not to be grounded by family and there was laughter when Assamba said after being escorted to a wreath- laying ceremony by outriders and returning to her office she got a call from a family member. Her son, who was attending Campion College, had seen her pass and, borrowing the phone at the office, asked his mother why the police were carrying in Aunty Aloun to Tower Street?

Joan Andrea Hutchinson delved into her most recent book, Kin Teet Kibba Heart Bun: Celebrating the Creativity of Jamaican 'Poor' People in a conversational manner without actually reading from the book. From 'touch meat' to the adjustments which had to be made to 'hand me downs', whitening (including one young lady who did her entire foot because she had no shoes) and love bush, it was rollicking fun and preservation of culture all the way.

The night's sole male performers, TOK were welcome special guests, celebrating the iron butterflies with another winged persona, the Guardian Angel.

The second segment was given over to song after Just Lyme's solo dance. Tessanne Chin showed remarkable ability and craft, starting with recorded tracks and delivering The Reason reggae style. She adjusted a line in No Woman No Cry to "government yard in Brooklyn" and introduced Monty on guitar to do a three-song medley with Hideaway. She wrapped up with a beautiful rendition of Rise, done for Haiti.

Etana was Free, looked into the difficulty of employment from a Wrong Address and declared I am Not Afraid, doing the uptempo Roots when asked for one more song.

A touching part of the evening was iron butterfly stories from men, the audience selecting an older gentleman who handed over a BlackBerry prize (courtesy of Digicel) to the child who had been second.