Cultural Fusion provides even more - Events second day give new experiences

Marcia Rowe, Gleaner Writer

Yesterday, The Gleaner carried a story depicting the first day of Cultural Fusion 2011. If anybody missed that day, there were some experiences they would not be able to get a taste of on last Sunday's day two. But the converse was also true.

The second day of Artistic Expressions Co. Ltd Cultural Fusion 2011 saw not only dances from Cuba and the United States of America, but also the coming together of local dance companies to perform some memorable pieces.

The show was a work of art from the opening dance, Blues Suite, where strength and masculinity were fully on show.

It began with the soloist Delvis Savigne of Danza del Caribe de Cuba. His movements, which started on a bench, were made even more enthralling by his bare chest. And the muscular Cuban did not hold back with some well-defined extensions.

The same was true of his counterpart, Edisnel Rodriguez, when he took to the stage two items later. Wearing red pants and a yellow shirt, he danced to Barbra Ramos Caballero's Valhala with agility and strength as he leapt and turned on the dance mat, covering every floorboard of the Little Theatre's stage.

Sheer fun

But it was in the second part of the Sunday afternoon's pro-ceedings that the show really got going.

From Stefanie Thomas's Picasso's Brush through to the closing number, Verge, performed by the New York City Contemporary Ballet Company, it was sheer enjoyment.

Picasso's Brush is not only best described as a montage of human shapes and objects, but a showcase of dancers from the National Dance Theatre Company, The Company Dance Theatre and Danza del Caribe.

Together, choreographer and performers, who were colourfully clad, convincingly and confidently explored different levels of space created by the set and props.

The saying "there is a thin line between love and hate" was artistically captured in Natalie Chung's A Thin Line.

Largest group act

With the largest group act of the programme, the dance drama began with two lovers professing their love, but with an injection of deception from an external force and through some risqué movements, it was revealed that smooches and munchies soon became rose and barbed wire. Costumes and set were creatively used to establish the setting.

Next, Ramón Ramos Alayo's choreography had Rodriguez and Savigne floating in the air. Yes, that is correct. The two literally floated high above the well-lit stage. Of course, their flight was aided by what turned out to be the most ideal costumes. Clad in white free-flowing Middle Eastern- looking pants, the two dancers were images of perpetual motion as they leapt to tremendous heights, in the process making Siempre Corriendo (Always Running) the best dance of the evening.

Physionx PT III (extract), choreographed and danced by Paradigmz, followed. It was very entertaining and provided an appropriate segue to Verge.

In Physionx, a scantily dressed dancer, after a disastrous start, managed to not only learn the dance lexis, but to execute it.

Verge, on the other hand, performed by three females, showed the feminine side and finesse to what Physionx, perhaps one day, hoped to achieve in the male version.

But in spite of a good second half, the last show of Cultural Fusion encountered a rather awkward moment when a technical glitch prevented guitarist Samuele Vivian from giving his A1 performance.

But the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts lecturer is a professional and so was able to give a fair performance of his original piece Tres Nortes Para Decir and an entertaining jazz interpretation of Let it Be Me.

His Excellency, Yuri Gala López, Cuban ambassador to Jamaica, was the patron of the show. Just after intermission, he was invited to give a speech. It was brief. In addition to providing some useful information on the history of Danza del Caribe de Cuba, the ambassador expressed hope for the continuation of the cultural partnership between Jamaica and Cuba.