- Contributed
Dance troupe, Xaymaca, in performance at last year's staging of Jamaican Youth in Concert. The group is set to appear in today's concert at Emancipation Park in New Kingston.
YOUTH MONTH will culminate today with the staging of the Prime Minister's National Youth Awards for Excellence and Jamaican Youth in Concert, at Emancipation Park in New Kingston.
The two-hour concert, which is the highlight of Youth Month activities, will offer a reflection of this year's theme, 'None But Ourselves Can..."
Producer Ricardo Chin says the show is expected to call to mind an awakening, a call for young people to stand up and recognise their full potential, a theme which will be artistically demonstrated at the opening of the show utilising the traditional Maroon Abeng.
An outstanding and exciting line-up of artistes and performers will be featured in the areas of dance, speech, drama and music.
The acts include Jah Children in the area of performance poetry, while the music category will feature performances from the School of Music's C-Sharp Band, which recently represented Jamaica at CARIFESTA in Suriname; Pembroke Hall Primary presenting a suite of patriotic songs, and a duet by Anna and Samantha Strachan, as well as a gospel segment featuring The Emmanuel Apostolic Youth Choir and the Herbert Morrison Technical High School's 25-member orchestra and combined 25-voice choir from the Montego Bay area.
CELEBRATING JAMAICAN MUSIC
The music category will also celebrate Jamaica's reggae/ dancehall music genre with performances from Abijah and a creative depiction of a dancehall session featuring Coppershot and Razz & Biggy, Leftside & Esco and Nikki B, complete with dance accompaniment from Barbara McDaniels' Xaymaca.
The Jamaica School of Drama is set to do an excerpt from the play 'Tick Tock', produced by Owen 'Blacka' Ellis, while Sabria McDonald and Damion Radcliffe will be presenting a dramatic scenario on the AIDS theme, in recognition of World AIDS Day on December 1.
The Jamaica School of Dance's 'Dance Works' will be featured in the dance category along with the Tony Wilson Junior Ensemble and male duo dancers Kirk Rowe and Onaje.
One of Jamaica's leading young designers in the fashion industry, Simone 'SIIM' Clarke, will be showcasing some of her work during a fashion art segment, adding a new and unique element to the Jamaican Youth in Concert programme.
Meanwhile, the Prime Mini-ster's National Youth Awards for Excellence has several young people vying for the top honour in the categories of agriculture, community-building, entrepreneurship, academics, sports, arts, service, leadership, and journalism.
INSPIRING YOUNGSTERS
The awards seek to recognise and reward achievements by youth which can serve as an inspiration to others, encourage contributions to national development and engender pride in our nation's youth.
Nominees must be Jamaican, under the age of 24 years, with exemplary character and have shown an interest in the standards applicable to their area of service. The award for journalism is a special award and will be made to the media house and/or journalist who has undertaken coverage of youth issues.
The youth awards and concert is one of several events organised each November in observance of Youth Month. The overall purpose of the month is to advance young people's participation in society and civil life, celebrate and highlight achievements among Jamaica's youth, reward excellence and showcase the best of youth talent in Jamaica. Youth Month is co-ordinated by the National Centre for Youth Development, the youth division of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Culture.
