Belize's future leaders will take centre stage this week to showcase their artistic talents in the National Festival of Arts. The week of events will highlight art in drama and visual arts at the Bliss Institute for Creative Arts. Creative Arts Development Officer at the Institute of Creative Arts, Denise Enriquez, told Love News that the week-long displays will open on Tuesday.
A ceremony and parade will officially kick off the festival on Tuesday morning at the House of Culture in Belize City.
The National Festival of Arts was launched during an opening ceremony at the House of Culture in Belize City this morning. Hundreds of children from all over the country of Belize including teachers and parents attended the ceremony and were dressed in different attires and costumes in preparation of a parade after the ceremonies. During the Keynote Address on behalf of the Minister of Culture and Tourism, Manuel Heredia, CEO in the Ministry, Tracey-Taegar Panton stressed the importance of having the children participate in initiatives to highlight culture.
Tracy Taegar Panton – CEO, Ministry of Tourism and Culture
“Today you all become ambassadors of Belizean culture. It was Ghandi who once said “No culture can live if it attempts to be exclusive” I agree and humbly would like to add to that and say, no country can live if it’s children are not able to freely and creatively express themselves. Let us think about it, a child thinks before he or she speaks, a child dances before he or she walks. Creativity and its expression is innate to all of us therefore the talent and passion we will see over the next few days really is a testament of our country’s maturity and to our own acceptance and appreciation of our cultural diversity.”
Several presentations took place on the stage and the President of NICH, Diane Haylock Declared the National Festival of Arts open. Although everyone had started lining up for the parade, it was promptly cancelled due to the rain, but that did not stop some of the bands, stilt walkers, drummers and dancers from dancing in the rain in the House of Culture compound. Belize, Belmopan and Orange Walk Primary Schools are scheduled to make their presentations at 10:00 tomorrow morning at the Bliss.
The National Festival of Arts was launched during an opening ceremony at the House of Culture in Belize City this morning. Hundreds of children from all over the country of Belize including teachers and parents attended the ceremony and were dressed in different attires and costumes in preparation of a parade after the ceremonies. During the Keynote Address on behalf of the Minister of Culture and Tourism, Manuel Heredia, CEO in the Ministry, Tracey-Taegar Panton stressed the importance of having the children participate in initiatives to highlight culture.
The audience was entertained by several presentations by the schools that were present and the President of NICH, Diane Haylock Declared the National Festival of Arts open after stressing how crucial it is to have the participation of our children in art.
Although everyone had started lining up for the parade, it was promptly cancelled due to the rain, but that did not stop some of the bands, stilt walkers, drummers and dancers to continue to dance under the rain in the House of Culture compound. Belize, Belmopan and Orange Walk Primary Schools are scheduled to make their presentations at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning at the Bliss.
The District Education Office of the Belize Rural South under the direction of the Ministry of Education held its annual Festival of Arts on Thursday May 24th. The festival is held yearly encouraging, "art is expression, art is education; let's keep it alive". The festival was hosted at the Angel Nu�ez Auditorium at the San Pedro High School Grounds and saw the participation of seven education institutions on the island.
The participating institutions were; San Pedro Roman Catholic School (SPRCS), San Pedro Dance Academy (SPDA), Isla Bonita Elementary School (IBES), Ambergris Caye Elementary School (ACES), Holy Cross Anglican School (HCAS), Saint Peter's Elementary School (SPES) and New Horizon SDA School (NHSDA).
The NFoA is in full swing, and Cayo is there in numbers. Click above for some pictures.
"Art is everywhere. We all have creativity inside us it's just a matter of finding it.
CAYO represented very well at the National Festival of Arts 2012."
National Festival of Arts Cayo Highlights The NFoA is getting some really amazing talent. Here are some pictures from Cayo's and Corozal's displays of talent. Thanks to the Institute of Creative Arts for making this all happen.
We've reported so far on the arrest of law enforcement officers, other crimes and flooding, but there’s something positive that has just concluded that shows talent of the youth. The annual National Festival of Arts, a showcase in the performing arts, culminated with a youth concert at the Bliss over the weekend. The event brought to an end three days of presentations in various artistic media including music and dance, as well as theater. The platform, according to Kim Vasquez, also created an opportunity for new talent to be discovered within a pool of one hundred students from the primary and secondary levels. Their skills, Vasquez says, will be developed and honed in the months to come.
Kim Vasquez
Kim Vasquez, Program Officer, ICA
"The overall, it's been very successful; the festival this year. It continues to grow and it continues to be well-attended. And what we have been noticing is that there is an improvement in the level of the performances coming from the participants both from outside the school system and within. What we have done here by putting the national level component to the Festival of Arts is that it pushes the children to work harder and to do better in their pieces."
Isani Cayetano
"Were there any particular stand out talents or performances this time around that warrants more attention either from those within any aspects of the performing arts?"
Kim Vasquez
"Several, yes. And actually, you look here at the Bliss Stage and we could have identified some that really stood out. They were all excellent and we brought the most outstanding ones here at the Bliss Stage and we look forward to working with some of these individuals that we saw."
The opinions and views expressed on this board are the subjective opinions of Ambergris Caye Message Board members and not of the Ambergris Caye Message Board its affiliates, or its employees.
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