From left, Kalia Ellis of Ardenne High delivers Joan Andrea Hutchinson's 'Rapunzel', a hilarious commentary on Jamaican class politics as typified through hair and skin colour. At right, St. Jago High's Speaking Ensemble deliver 'Block Roadin' which discusses the science of blocking a road.
Tanya Batson-Savage, Freelance Writer
SHE STANDS with perfect poise, waiting to be told that she may begin. When the word comes, nine-year-old Cleopatra Carr launches into a discussion of the confusing nature of parents.
Dressed in her school uniform, but with vibrancy and great expressiveness of voice and face, the student of Calabar Primary and Junior High was one of the numerous students competing in the National Speech finals of the 2004 Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) festival competition. As she performed, the early morning atmosphere was filled with the energy of the young. Though one of the youngest performers, Cleopatra would go on to earn the highest award of the competition, that of The Most Outstanding Overall Speech Entry.
The speech finals took place at The Little Theatre, Tom Redcam Drive, St. Andrew, on Wednesday and Thursday of last week. Day one saw the junior and adult performances, while day two featured the intermediates. All the students present had already copped their gold medals and were looking to take home the national trophy. For many of them it is their first time, while others have become veterans.
There were approximately 50 entries in the finals of the competition. National Speech, Drama and Literary Arts Co-ordinator, Vivien Morris Brown, noted that what is displayed at the national finals is a mere fraction of the number of performers that make it to the regional finals. Indeed, so many qualified this year that the finals were originally scheduled to go across three days. However, after eliminations, only enough for two days made the final cut.
Students who make it to the national finals have not only earned a gold medal, but they earned the highest gold medal for their category and class.
While one of the major assets of the JCDC Speech Competition is that it gives the students an opportunity to explore the stage, the competition represents so much more. This year's competition is a glowing example of how the speech competition has fostered familiarity with the pen, especially in the dub poetry and storytelling areas, as Morris Brown noted.
She pointed out that while in the past the storytelling area had been dominated by adults, now the students are coming forward and often tell their own stories.
As such, the speech competition allows a conversation between older established writers and new voices. Doniesha Hutchinson's earning the Louise Bennett Award for the Most Outstanding Jamaica Dialect performance was a vibrant embodiment of that conversation. Hutchinson's energetically descriptive original poem Mi Nuh Kin Teet' showed her to be following in the tradition of Miss Lou.
Over the years the competition has earned the reputation as a breeding ground for the next generation of performers, with many of today's standouts having passed through it. This is a tradition which is clearly continuing.
Persons such as Sheldon Sheperd and his group Nomadzz of Kingston College (who earned the trophy for Most Outstanding Dub Poetry in the Adult and Open categories) have been building a stellar repertoire of dub performances that display their talent and earmark them as faces and voices to watch out for in the future.
NEWER CATEGORIES
The competition has been evolving, with categories being added over the years. Newer categories include the Dub Poetry Ensemble and Stand Up Comedy categories.
The males have been dominating and exploding the notion of dub poetry. While it was most marked with Nomadzz, with their performance of Line of Duty the young men of Bridgeport High School declared that Nomadzz was not alone in exploring dub frontiers.
Prose also has its place in the competition and the older competitors attempt to push the envelope, even incorporating adaptations which allow dramatic works to slip in. This year Christa-Gayle Clarke of EXED Community College adapted Derek Walcott's Malcachon or Six in The Rain to a story.
In a similar vein, Samantha Hardy and Keva Harris performed excerpts from Trevor Rhone's Smile Orange.According to Morris Brown the strongest aspect of the competition is the commitment shown by the teachers. She spoke of the late Claudine Delahaye, who left the performance of Odaine Dawkins as a part of her legacy.
Morris Brown and Dawkins explained that Delahaye had died the day of the regional finals, shortly after hearing of Dawkins' win. According to Morris Brown, upon hearing the news, Delahaye said "It is done".
When The Sunday Gleaner spoke to the adjudicators of day one of the competition, director Robert Clarke and actors Fae Ellington and Grace McGhie, they pointed out that the competition acts as the main outlet for speech and drama-related courses in schools. Indeed, the competition showed pieces that are standard parts of literature classes.
THE ELECTRONIC MEDIA
They lamented, however, that the media - and especially the electronic media - have been reneging on their duty to properly cover the performing arts festival.
Ellington maintained that concern for the 'bottom line' has shoved the festival from television screens.Even so, they declared commitment to the task of adjudication.
"This is one of the few jobs that no matter how groggy I feel in the morning I'm happy to do it," said Clarke. Ellington agreed, noting that the competition often unveils "delight pieces" that can rejuvenate and uplift.
Clarke, who has been most involved in the adjudication process for the past few years, noted that this year the standard of performance seemed generally higher. The judges noted, however, that because of the teachers involved and how they interact with the students, schools such as Lannaman's Preparatory, Calabar Primary and Junior High, Mona Preparatory, St. Jago High and Kingston College have been
producing consistently good work.
The competition also engages another area of development. With its celebration of works in Jamaican Creole (which it dubs dialect) and works in Standard English, the competition declares that Jamaica is bi-lingual. Most of the students find themselves switching from one language to the next, either because the performance changes or because most introductions are made in Standard English.
However, regardless of what it does, there is one all important element of the competition. As students file from the theatre, voices lifted in joy, it is clear that they have been given a sense of achievement. This exploration into the art of speech was more than just talk.
