Ardenne continues performing arts dominance

Ardenne High School recently captured the coveted Marcus Garvey Award for Excellence in the Performing Arts for a record-breaking 14th time.

The event, organised by the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC), was held at the Little Theatre in St Andrew recently, and saw Ardenne topping the five nominees to capture the title and lifting the trophy following a ceremony that recognised the best participants from the Festival of the Performing Arts national finals held earlier this year. In addition to the top trophy, Ardenne captured several category awards, including Most Outstanding Teacher (Dance Class 7) - Yakeen Reid; Most Outstanding Tutor (Speech Class 4) - Jonathan McLaughlin; Drummer of the Year - Javier Singh; and Most Outstanding Open Class Group (Drama).

The Marcus Garvey Awards for Excellence in the Performing Arts was introduced by the JCDC in 1994. The award is given to the school which accumulates the most points based on its accomplishments at the national finals. The nominees must participate in at least three of the six disciplines (dance, deaf dance, drama and theatre arts, traditional folk forms, music, and speech) to qualify for the top prize. St Andrew High School for Girls placed second. This was their first time getting into the Top 5 Club, a big deal for them as the school is currently observing its centenary year. Third place went to Green Island High School from Hanover, while Godfrey Stewart High School from Westmoreland placed fourth, and St Jago High School from St Catherine took the fifth position.

In acknowledging the win, Zia Gray, co-curricular coordinator at Ardenne, described the moment as a blessing for the hard work and dedication put in by the students at the institution.

"We've worked hard. We have dedicated students who have put their best foot forward and it's very good to see that we actually brought home the trophy for another year and hopefully, we can continue bringing it home for many more years, because our students work tirelessly. You know how many schools have sports? We have performing arts. We have kids who were born for this. The talent that they come with is effortless. They actually just come and they are willing to participate. Plus the coaches that we have, they're next-level," she said.

Culture Minister Olivia Grange announced that the JCDC challenged performers to set a new record in terms of the number of entries for the upcoming cycle of the Festival of the Performing Arts.

"At the close of entries for the Festival of the Performing Arts earlier this year, the JCDC received over 10,000 submissions from across the island. That means that more than 30,000 performers took to parish stages of our speech, drama, dance, music, and traditional performance. So, here's my challenge to all of you. Let's make it 15,000 entries next year," said Grange.