By Michael Bascombe
In Shanghai
SHANGHAI, China, July 19, 2010 – Grenada’s folk music and dance were among cultural features at the EXPO 2010 Shanghai on the weekend as thousands of visitors were attracted to the unique design of the booth depicting a nutmeg.
A cultural team headed by Junior Culture Minister Senator Arley Gill is in Shanghai to participate in the CARICOM day (July 17) activities. The contingent, which included Edson “Ajamu” Mitchell and Brian Hurst, featured as Grenada’s cultural contribution inside the CARICOM Pavilion.
“The organisers requested something unique from the participating countries and we thought our folklore was well portrayed by the Grenadian performers,” said Senator Gill.
The Minister made the comment following a full weekend of performances by the “Nutmeg Band” in front of well appreciative crowds. The name was coined by the Minister who said it synched with the Nutmeg Booth.
On Saturday, Grenada was the main act at the Caribbean Community Day Cultural Expo which were attended CARICOM and Chinese officials including Prime Minister Tillman Thomas; President Nicholas Liverpool of the Commonwealth of Dominica and CARICOM Secretary General Dr Edwin Carrington.
Other performances included a pan side from Trinidad and Tobago; limbo dancing from Barbados; dancers from Haiti and a reggae band from Jamaica.
The Grenadian performance included poetry with Nigel DeGale tracing the island’s history from slavery which was punctuated with dancing and singing. The “Bel Air” dance was a hit with its groovy style accompanied by drumming and a short knee presentation.
Grenada’s singing maestro Ajamu culminated the performance with a few of his popular tunes including “Changes”.
But the best was yet to come as Chinese nationals and other visitors to the Americas Square witnessed two full-length performances from the Grenadian group on Sunday. Prime Minister Thomas and his wife, who earlier met with Grenadian students studying in Shanghai, were guests for the first show, dubbed Grenada’s Patriotic Flavour.
Ajamu was featured in the second show and he pulled a flag-waving crowd from his first rendition which swelled to a few hundreds in scorching temperatures by the time he completed the 45 minutes allotted to Grenada.
His performance was aided by the band members familiar with his music and Grenadian students providing on-stage translation and other logistical support. The “musical genius” also demonstrated his versatility by playing various instruments during his presentation.
“We demonstrated our folklore in music and dance and we could see that the Chinese were very excited and captivated by Ajamu,” said Adrian Kenneth Mark, senior cultural officer of the Ministry of Culture.
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