By Tyrone Reid, Staff Reporter 
The Korean Fan Dance, featuring actual Korean performers. - Michael Sloley /Freelance Photographer
THE AUDIENCE at the Logos II International Festival held at the Rock Garden Theatre, Family Church on the Rock, were taken on a pilgrimage across the world in one and a half hours.
People from more than 40 different cultures and ethnic backgrounds are aboard the Logos II vessel now docked in the city's harbour, and the audience got the opportunity to tap into some of the cultures on Saturday night.
The masters of ceremony were Weslley and Eloa Silva from Brazil. Weslley works with the Programme Department and his wife works with the Personnel Department. The ship has been sailing around the world since 1990 and Jamaica is the 335th port it has docked at.
The comical duo had the patrons laughing all night. In Weslley's first appearance, he was decked in the full Brazillian outfit as he pledged allegiance to his country as the greatest soccer nation in the world.
However beautiful and lovely the presentations were, the crew of the Logos II asked that the accompanying message not be missed. They were here to offer a solution, a simple one - Jesus Christ. As one crew member said it: "Everyone aboard has the same goal and purpose and that is to serve God...we are a family."
The first presentation was a fashion show. Cultural dresses were displayed from Russia, China, Portugal, Chile, Germany, Sudan, Jamaica and many others.
At 9:20 p.m., the audience was treated to a drama piece, entitled Redeemer. There was no talking, the actors only mimed and the audience had to follow along. They were backed by some very good sound effects and they had the audience eating out of their hands.
The skit covered all the happenings from creation to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It depicted God creating man, and that man constantly sinned and as such was cut off from God. It also showed how man was being tormented by the devil as a result of his sin and then God finally stopped time, stepped out of eternity and took the place of man and died on the cross for man's redemption. In the end, God rose triumphantly and man was reunited with Him.
Afterward, an altar call was made, and several people responded. At 9:40 p.m., 'the ship' pulled up to the shores of Scotland, a place where the men wear kilts. They danced and pranced as they displayed a Scottish dance for the audience. The dance was akin to what we Jamaicans call, "ring ah ring ah rosie", and was well appreciated by the audience.
'The ship' then took up its anchor and sailed to the South American continent, to a place called Venezuela. The crew members took to the stage and displayed a traditional Venezuelan dance, but it was important to note however that none of the dancers were Venezuelan, in fact they told the audience that they learnt the dance on the ship.
Next stop was the United States, as the crew members went retro, going back in time, way back, to the 50s. They did some acrobatic stuff, as the men and the women got down to the early beats of rock 'n' roll, which was well received by the crowd.
One of the high points of the night came when the excursion docked on the shores of the Asian island, the Philippines. The traditional Bamboo Dance was on display. Again, there were no natives from the country in the dance, but no one could tell, since they did it so well. The audience clapped along enthusiatically, as the dancers dangerously jumped in between two heavy bamboos that were being smacked together.
The dance was reminiscent to the longstanding game known as 'Chinese skip' but the consequences thereof were similiar to the old folk game, 'Gyal and Bwoy' but in this case it is, "if yuh foot mash nuh cry".
The already entertaining showcase was mixed with a little laughter, as the emcees managed to induce participation from the audience in the dangerous exercise. One of the participants was Gospel deejay, Prodigal Son.
He seemed so afraid. He carefully placed his feet in-between the bamboos as the opportunity presented itself. It was as if he was putting them in hot water and the audience had a bellyfull of laughs from the excercise.
At 10 p.m., the tour around the world stopped at the South American continent again, this time docking at Colombia. A Colombian dance was presented, and again there were no Colombians involved, as a matter of fact one man was from Korea.
At 10 minutes past the hour, another skit was presented, this time around it was a family based drama, which depicted the importance of God as the head of the family as well as the value of good family relations. All of this was done in mime.
Next up was the Korean fan dance, finally these people were actually Koreans. It was a very beautiful display, from the array of colours to the fabulous fans that were being whirled all over the place.
At 10:30 p.m., the show came to a fitting end. Marco and Wendy graced the stage and were eventually joined on-stage by the other crew members, all of whom bore the flag of their home country. It was a scene of unity, prosperity and love it was a definite tear-jerker.
