Naya Zamana 14 at the National Cultural Centre

Last night, I went with Gina, Priya and Anu to see Naya Zamana 14 at the National Cultural Centre. Before the show, Gina, Priya and I went to Sizzling Platter, an Indian restaurant, where I enjoyed some delicious mango juice, along with my mango chicken curry and chapati. I don't remember what everyone else ordered, but it also looked tasty! And as per the name, all dishes arrived sizzling on a platter/skillet.

Naya Zamana is put on by the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sbha to showcase the work of the dance students at the Dharmic Sandkritik Kendra. Two sisters are the choreographers and creators of the dance show, and offer free teaching of a variety of forms of dance to the students at the school. From the program, "Naya Zamana remains close to the heart of all the dancers, actors, performers nd persons who have worked with the sisters in this prestigiou hallmark production of the Sabha. Naya Zamana continues to reflect a passion for dance that encourages excellent, promotion of cultural art forms and positive vib rations and camaraderie among young people".

As we were arriving, the sirens wailed and the president's motorcade pulled into the theatre. We saw him in the lobby and Gina took stalkerish pictures. We were arranging to take our picture with him in the background when he moved and Priya said that we could probably just ask him to have our picture taken with him. So we did! Gina and I had our picture taken with the President of Guyana - don't worry, we had the permission of his bodyguard first before we asked him.

Anu had asked me as soon as tv ads started whether I wanted to go to the show, and I thought Gina would want to go and I kept forgetting to ask her. And then when we determined the three of us wanted to go, we still somehow left it until the last minute to pick up the tickets and as I was going to pick up the tickets, I asked Priya if she wanted to come too! I went to the Cultural Centre box office, picked up the tickets and went back to my other office, Oasis. At which point, I realized I had paid the price for floor seats and received balcony seats. Anu needed some more tickets so Iwent back only o find out hat I couldn't get four floor seats so we would be stuck in the balcony.

The balcony is exactly where we found Anu waiting for us - less excited about our picture with the president than we were, and perhaps still a bit disappointed about our seats in the nose bleed section. I definitely felt under-dressed in my black dress surrounded by women in their beautifully coloured and sparkling Indian garb. The father of the two choreographer sisters spoke, as a former minister in the government and I am assuming an involved member in Hindu community events. He introduced the President who spoke of the arrival in Guyana, preserving Indian culture and high hopes for Carifesta starting next week to further share with the Carribbean Guyana's cultural variety.

The show itself comprised of twenty dances, three songs and a grand finale. The costumes were spectacular with their vibrant colours and accessories. Some dancers were more skilled than others, but everybody had a lot of energy and passion for what they were doing. Experienced show goers tell me it wasn't as good as previous years, less synchronization and such, but I thoroughly enjoyed all the dances and costumes. It's handy having Anu around too to tell me about some of the dances like the Peer Manava which the program tells me now (and couldn't read in the dark) has "the dancers utilise energetic bhangra and giddha dance steps teasing the dulhan about her impending nuptials". One of my favourites was "Kachi Kaliya" called a "refreshing twist of Indian folk dance allowing male dancers to express both facets of human emotion" which they portrayed in dance by having a woman mask and dress on their back - enabling them to play their masculine dance role as well as do a role reversal and be a woman, somewhat mockingly in style.

Overall the evening was a spectacular show of dance, colour and music!