A panel of judges were in Eleuthera for four days, from May 6th, until May 9th, 2024 visiting communities and schools from across The Eleutheras, for the 65th Annual E. Clement Bethel National Arts Festival Adjudications on the island. The adjudication team, made up of experts from various fields of the Arts, included; Dr. Dionne Cunningham, Mr. Oscar Dean (music – instrumental), Ms. Ivona Gaitor (art), Felicia Rolle (drama), Ricardo Christie (dance), Adrian Archer (music adjudicator – vocal and choir), Portia Sands – Assistant Director of Culture, Sonovia Pierre – Organizing Secretary for the E. Clement Bethel Arts Festival, and Abby Smith, Cultural Affairs Officer (visual photography).
The group began in North Eleuthera on Monday, May 6th, where they hosted performances from the Laura L. Anderson primary school and the North Eleuthera high school at the high school campus, moving on to Spanish Wells on day two. The judges stopped first in to the Wellington Preparatory school before heading to the Methodist church facility on the island to view performances from students at the Samuel Guy Pinder All Age school.
Photojournalist, Eric Rose, who captured a number of the festival performances across the island, described the afternoon session selections by Samuel Guy Pinder All Age as dazzling, with musical, dance and dramatic performances. Of note, he said, were piano playing, instrumental ensembles, a singing duet, and an original poem about Spanish Wells.
Day three in Eleuthera took the National Arts Festival judges to South Eleuthera, where they witnessed renditions from students at Deep Creek primary, Wemyss Bight primary, as well as at Rock Sound primary school. Students in Deep Creek showcased their talents, dancing to “I Have A Very Big God”, followed by Keyanna Simon and Tayshawn Brown giving recitations, and ending the event was Dorae Rolle, who belted out an entertaining song.
At the next stop in Wemyss Bight on day three, Mr. Rose said that the students did not disappoint, with a dance routine and an impressive choral verse speaking performance. In Rock Sound, the final stop for the judges on that Wednesday, student Zhivannah Georges recited words of encouragement, he described, and her schoolmates entertained as a choir. At each location, the adjudicators gave helpful pointers to the students, and interacted with them afterwards.
On the fourth and final day of adjudications, the panel of judges visited two sites. The first during the morning session at the Cancer Society’s Wellness Center in Palmetto Point, where they viewed solo and duet acapella vocals, dance, drama performances of both group and solo skits, individual drum instrumentals, stringed instruments with vocal accompaniments and more, by students from the Gregory Town primary school, and the Central Eleuthera high school, along with one community entry performance. Students at the Emma E. Cooper primary school, then rounded out the week during a final afternoon session, with both solo and group recorder presentations.
Sonovia Pierre, Organizing Secretary with the National Arts Festival (as well as a teacher and an acclaimed Bahamian vocalist and recording artist), on the group’s final day in Eleuthera commented, “It has been interesting. There have been a number of things. We’ve had junkanoo, drama, singing… We haven’t had much singing, which has been interesting, and not as much choir [as seen before]. Drama, believe it or not has been the number one on this island. They’ve been doing a lot of drama, as well as instrumental and dance – would be the next in popularity. So, for some reason Eleuthera has not been very high on the vocals this time. So, that has been interesting… they put a bit more this time into drama – where you have to take the time to apply yourself and learn the pieces… The kids have been doing well.”
Notably missing from the entrants this year in Eleuthera, said Ms. Pierre, were paintings along with art and craft pieces, including jewelry making and shell work, photography, straw and others – with just two art pieces adjudged across the island.
She expressed the need for both schools and the Eleuthera public to understand the scope and nature of the competitive National Arts Festival – where not just students, but anyone in the public could prepare selections and pieces for the competition, across a wide variety of art genres – including; drama, dance, fine arts, crafts, film, and music. Communities with thriving creative artisans, vocalists, choirs, and drama enthusiasts; schools with vibrant art, music and drama programs – could use the national arts festival competition to show off their talents, skills and creations, and have them adjudged at a national level – with the convenience of those national judges coming into each community, each year.
Speaking directly to teachers, reinforcing the type of impact they could have by allowing their students to be creative and take part, Ms. Pierre shared, “You are giving students a chance to find their passion. Like me, I wasn’t interested in sports. My talent was singing and music. And up until that time in school, I was shy. Nobody knew me. But it was one teacher who gave me a chance, and look at me now.”
For further information, or to reach out to the Organizing Secretary about any aspect of the National Arts Festival, email – Culture@bahamas.gov.bs or call (242) 502-0600/ or 502-0601.
