A member of the RIU Performers dance group dives through fire during a performance at RIU Montego Bay's Educational Weekend event, last Friday night. - Photo by Noel Thompson

WESTERN BUREAU:

The recently opened RIU Resort in Montego Bay was buzzing with entertainment last Friday night when the hotel treated several overseas travel agents to a taste of Jamaica.

Following a cocktail reception, the guests were entertained with a sterling performance by the RIU Performers, a dance group trained on the RIU property. As MC Janet Silvera introduced them on stage, they came out dancing, their faces and bodies decorated with black and white paint, to match their apparel.

The barefooted dancers started their set with African music, followed by Arabic songs. Guests were stunned and watched with bated breath as dancers dived through a diamond-shaped inferno, landing on a mattress.

As the fast-paced He Lives in You thumped from speaker boxes, the Riu Performers gyrated to the rhythm andexited the stage into the darkness, earning a resounding round of applause.

But the real taste of Jamaica was yet to come, when the Westmoreland-based Hatfield Folk Singers came on stage, the women in bandanna dresses with matching head wraps and the men in colourful shirts and black trousers.

Experienced singers

Performing for the past 28 years, Hatfield demonstrated that they are experienced singers, skilfully holding falsetto, soprano and baritone notes. Their voices synchronised as they rendered Dis Long Time Gal Mi Nevva See You, and the audience responded with much appreciation.

They then rendered Dem Tell A Lie Pon Mi, Right Through the Rocky Road, among others. In the background, the rich, pulsating sound of an acoustic guitar and Congo drums punctuated the air.

Half-an-hour later, guests' attention was turned to individuals and groups performing several genres of dances, representing different cultures and countries from across the world.

Karen Mills (left), operations manager with Sunquest Vacations gazes into the eyes of Patrick Flemmings, sales and marketing manager for Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort, Miami.