'Mello-Go-Roun' a merry affair

Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writer

The annual Mello-Go-Roun', staged last Wednesday at the National Arena, St Andrew, has an inherent advantage and disadvantage. As it showcases the best of the performing arts in the year's festival competitions, the organisers have no problems with selecting performers or, usually, ensuring a decently high standard.

On the other hand, the programme is inescapably long (last Wednesday's ended at 11:15 p.m., after starting at 7 p.m. with an approximate 20-minute break) and must be hard to weave together into a cohesive, flowing presentation.

Advantages and limitations considered, the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) did a good job with the 2010 staging, following roughly the same format on both sides of intermission - start with dance, build the tempo with speech, move into music, up the ante with higher impact dance and close off with song.

Key to the organisation was the host pair of Christopher 'Johnny' Daley as 'Pa Ben' and Karen Harriott as his grand-daughter, 'Amina'. Individually highly experienced and engaging, together they were less than the sum of their singular talents, but certainly efficient enough to keep the show rolling along as they played on the generation gap and cleverly worked in introductions off the next set of performers. The stage management was equally critical and here the event, held before a full, appreciative house, stood out, as there was a near seamless flow of performers, with incoming ones often moving into position before the person or persons currently on stage had wrapped up.

The best transition was in the second segment, for 'Story in Motion', where the performers after stand-out Jenelia Reid (Jamaica Nuff Problem), which included the Hampton High School Choir, formed the eager listeners on-stage.

Subtitled 'Show Mi Yuh Motion', Mello-Go-Roun' 2010 was organised in nine parts, each a different 'motion'

As often happens in entertainment, humour swept away the audience, so while there was appreciation and respect for performers in 'Freedom in Motion' and 'Motions of Health' (Danny Williams School for the Deaf students the sole presenters with Viral Destruction), it was not until the third segment, 'Language in Motion', that the audience was roused to spontaneous cheers. That was for Paula Bird (St Jago High) and Spokin', the explanation of "sudden fry chicken" causing hoots of laughter.

Cornwall College's The Linguist hit the spot in that segment as well, a well spoken man resorting to patois ("Woman, move dung yu big self!") as his eloquent English entreaties to a woman in a bus did not have any effect.

Highly acclaimed

The segment ended with Motion in the Spirit, a wide-eyed Orville Douglas (Jericho Primary) presenting himself as 'the Jamaican Obama' and infusing the Arena with the "yes, we can" spirit. A high note from Jamielle Gilman on Stand Still was rousing, while the solemn Acclaimed by Tivoli High Dance Troupe showed why they are just that - highly acclaimed.

Post-intermission was much the same pattern, though this time the Gerreh dancing of one slender fellow of Indian heritage, high-kicking legs, trembling with hand on his partner's shoulder and all, sent a ripple through the crowd. Then there were the dancehall references in Reid's extended Jamaica Nuff Problem - Bounty Killer's infamous "I are the one" and reference to Vybz Kartel as 'teacher', making for maybe the piece of the mellow night.

Music anchored the show, from Jovanni Williams' Marley Medley on violin, which was a hit, and Kacey Flannigan's Barrington Levy medley Sorrow (the audience waited for the closing Levy-like warbling to really get involved). The Anonymous group's dance was crackling in coordination, choreography and concept, ending with a Usain Bolt impersonation to flashing lights and the Chariots of Fire music that was simply superb.

Unfortunately, after Tivoli High Dance Troupe's Jumporee, in which they made very creative use of skipping ropes, appropriate for Skip to My Loo, Kaharuso's Festival Song winner, My Jamaica, was not enough to staunch a heavy stream of mello-go-rounders heading to the exits.