It was delayed a week due to the teacher's strike and subsequent postponement of the PSE but despite that hitch today the performing section of the Children's Festival of Art opened at the Bliss Center. This year 48 schools and youth organizations will field 365 entries. That amounts to about 1000 performers who over the next four weeks will tell stories, recite poems, sing, and dance. Keith Swift was at this morning's opening and has a preview.
Keith SwiftReporting,
For the next month, nights on the main stage at the Bliss will be filled with stories, there will be a fair amount of reasons to laugh, and you can bet there will be more than enough of dancing. 1,000 performers will be competing, whether it be through dancing, singing, or storytelling, on this stage in the Festival of Arts showcase. Leroy Green is the Programs Director at the Institute of Creative Arts.
Leroy Green, Programs Director ICA
"There are presentations in the area of dance, drama, story telling, and music. I know that over the past two or three years the level, or the quality, of performances has definitely been enhanced. So the adjudication sheets have been modified somewhat to accommodate for this kind of change and also we have become, I do not want to use the word harder, but we have become a bit more expectant in our grading since the level has gone up. "
Still, Green stresses that the festival is not really a competition and the performers, most of whom are primary school students, say they are not in it to compete.
Genise Sutherland, Grace Primary
School
"We're looking forward not to win gold or nothing but to just perform and like just have fun in art."
Adeline Gillet, Grace Primary School
"It's very fun and it's nice because you get time to experience things and go and experience things and go on stage, not to be afraid, but to have fun. I get nervous sometimes, sometimes I even forget what I'm supposed to do, but I just catch on."
Adrianne Pilgrim, Grace Primary School
"It means that I could express my feelings. I feel more comfortable on stage each year I go on and just to have fun with my friends."
Cristal Ortiz, Grace Primary School
"We all take part in this and I don't do it just to get gold. I do it to feel good on the stage and just feel nice. The first time when I came I felt nervous but now I feel good because it's not my first time I'm doing it."
The Festival has also been around a while. The tradition dates back to the 1960s. The National Institute of Culture and History's President Yasser Musa says it is more than just a stage show - it's an important cultural experience.
Yasser Musa, NICH President
"There will be over 1,000 young kids performing on stage in the month of May. In addition to that there will be another 6,000 people in the audience. So just looking at the numbers I think that is a very impressive show of a community coming together: parents, teachers, students, and performers to bring together such an incredible cultural experience. There is no doubt, studies have shown clearly that art in school, art education, and expressive arts in a curriculum helps other disciplines like mathematics and science but also it gives, in a bigger context, a young person a sense of self-esteem building and pride in him and herself. And from a national cultural perspective I think it prepares young people for a stronger future."
For his part Green says the Festival also serves an equally important purpose for those children who are academically disinclined but artistically creative.
Leroy Green,
"There
are some children who are not really academically oriented but they excel in the arts so this gives them a chance to prove themselves and feel good about themselves. The Festival of Arts is the major place where they can come and display that creativity. Apart from getting gold, silver, and bronze certificates, which I will underline again is not a competition, these certificates just tell them where they are and what they need to do to improve, they get a sense of self esteem from hearing that applause from the audience."
Applause which shouldn't be in short supply if today's preview was an indication of the 365 entries to come.
Tonight's performances began at 6:30. Shows continue week nightly through to June 2nd with the exception of Monday May 23rd which is a holiday. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for kids. There will be no golden nights this year because of scheduling conflicts with the Bliss Center. The visual arts section of the festival is on display this week at the Bliss.
For historical context, in the story we mentioned that the Festival dates back to 1960s. Sometime after that, it died off and it was revived in 1989 by the late Beverly Smith Lopez.
