Belmont Freetown to host Cultural Explosion 4

With the promise of a showcase of dance, drama, drumming and music, Belmont Freetown Cultural Arts and Folk Performing Company (BFT) will present its Cultural Explosion 4 at Queen’s Hall, St Ann’s.

The group will be joined on stage on September 27 by special international guest performers West-Can Folk Performing Company from Montreal, Canada, along with locally-based Curepe Invaders Performing Company, a media release said.

A few surprise acts are also planned for the showcase, which boasts a range of entertaining performances from pan to calypso, folk and soca.

Founded in 1998 by the husband-and-wife team of Earl and Christine Mark, BFT is a community-based not-for-profit organisation where children, teens and young adults are taught the rudiments of dance, drama, African drumming, voice, arts and craft.

The young people. said the release, are also given invaluable opportunities to perform for audiences at home and abroad. Not only do they succeed in sharpening their performance skills, but also, the lessons and activities in which they are involved invariably lead to remarkable improvements in their confidence, self-esteem and sense of national pride, the release said.

Founder Christine Mark began dancing at age five with the St Babb’s Village Council. After several years of performing with various groups throughout Trinidad, Mark finally settled with cultural impresario Aubrey Adams’ Dance Company. There she spent some 17 years dancing and touring before the company eventually folded.

It was at this juncture the dancer/choreographer decided to join forces with her husband to launch what is now the BFT, the release said.

Since then, BFT has excelled in all categories in the Prime Minister's Best Village Trophy Competition; assisted Belmont-based primary and secondary schools at SanFest and the Secondary Schools Dance Competition; and has toured the UK, Germany and Canada.

Mark continues to find inspiration in the passion of the youth dancers.

“By any standard, 26 years is a long time to keep a group going, let alone one whose core existence is anchored within the artistic and cultural space.

“But whenever I spot my own passion for dance and the arts mirrored back at me through the young company members, it encourages me to keep going,” she said in the release.

Mark admitted that along with the high points of performances, tours and collaborations, such as the one with West-Can, came the increasingly challenging task of managing an NGO. To keep going, the group hosts fundraisers throughout the year. The upcoming fourth edition of Cultural Explosion is but one of several such projects.

Despite her resourcefulness, however, Mark must often resort to using her own personal funds to finance the group’s expenses.

“It gets tough at times, so we always welcome new investors and donors who recognise the value of our work, even while we continue to forge ahead,” she said.

“We’re enormously thankful to the Belmont community for purchasing tickets to our events and fundraisers. And since we don’t have a permanent home base, we never take for granted the access we are allowed to the Belmont Community Centre and the secondary school for rehearsals and classes.”

Mark expressed her appreciation to current and past principals of the secondary school, to Brian Cooper of the Belmont Community Council and to the parish community of St Margaret’s Anglican Church.

“Their unwavering support goes a long way in helping BFT stay on their mission to make a notable difference in the society, by involving young people in keeping traditions and heritage alive in TT. After all, the children are indeed the future,” she said.

Showtime is 7 pm and tickets for Cultural Explosion 4 cost $200 and can be bought from BFT company members at 627-9586, 477-7647, 337-6388 and 271-4954.