'YARD 2000', THE three-day dance conference set to run from today until Wednesday, October 11 at the Hilton Kingston Hotel, promises to explore the impact of African rhythms on the dance forms of Jamaica.
In exploring the role of dance in rituals, 'Yard 2000' is expected look at traditional folklore including kumina, the religious practice of ancestral worship with direct links to the Congo.
The religious practice of kumina has been kept alive in the rituals, chanting, drumming and language. To date, the Kumina people of Jamaica can communicate in Kicongo, although many of them have never travelled to any part of Africa.
'Yard 2000' will expose viewers to the ritual at the 'Seal Yard of Miss Queenie, Imogene Kennedy, in the parish St. Catherine and allow participants to experience a real 'kumina duty' prepared by Kumina King, Bongo Baucho, Queenie's nephew.
From Trinidad, Iyalodee High Priestess, Dr. Molly Ahye, a spiritual Baptist, who travelled and lived in Brazil and Nigeria and leader of the Yoruba retention in Trinidad, will present a special tribute to Caribbean dance pioneer Dr. Beryl McBurnie. Author of 'Golden Heritage', Dr. Ahye will speak on the life and time of Dr. Beryl McBurnie as well as the retention of Trinidad dance and its development.
The event will open with Mortimer Planner lecturing on 'The Revolution of Rastafarianism'. He was the first Rastafar-ian elder to have visited Haile Selassie, the spiritual leader of Rastafarians.
