Every year, throughout the year, UWI St Augustine’s Department of Creative and Festival Arts (DCFA) unleashes the creative power of its students on the society. Dancers soar. Voices and instruments rise like the hearts and flesh of their audiences. Young actors embody the humor and sorrow and rage and love of the characters they assume. Visual artists use their eyes, hands and hearts to bring forth their imagination into the material world. And the students of the masquerade preserve and transform one of the dearest parts of our cultural legacy.
They call it “Season of the Arts”.
“Season of the Arts is an entire expose of all five of the units of the DCFA - Music, Dance, Theatre, Visual Arts, and Carnival Studies,” says Jessel Murray, Senior Lecturer at the DCFA and Deputy Dean for Distance and Outreach. “It was created to bring together the disparate elements of the units and truly brand ourselves collectively.”
Since its creation in 2016-2017, Season of the Arts has expanded incredibly, growing to over 40 events for the entire academic year. Events this past holiday season showcased both traditional Christmas song vocals as well as instrumentals in a range of genres. Dance choreography over the past year portrayed the expressive, the indigenous and the culturally affirming.
Murray, who is also the director of the UWI Arts Chorale, says, “We now have quite a reach showing the intellectual and creative gifts housed at the DCFA.”
Season of the Arts has another critical purpose – giving DCFA students real-word experience and assessment:
“Because we are a teaching unit, one of our ways of assessing our students is in productions,” says Mr Louis Mc Williams, Head of the DCFA. “Rather than giving them exams that are internal we encourage students to perform for the public. This is a dynamic way to showcase the work that we do.”
Mc Williams noted that DCFA events were multidisciplinary and also included presentations and colloquiums.
At the time of this writing, (visual) artwork by students is on display in the Alma Jordan Library at the St Augustine Campus. The Dance unit had its major concert last semester – UWI Arts Dance: “Festival of Movement” – which took place in November 2019. Last year marked the first that Festival of Movement took place at the DCFA, moving from its original performance space at the Little Carib Theatre.
“It was a tremendous success,” the Deputy Dean says.
The Theatre unit hosted six student-directed plays in late November, the UWI Arts Theatre: New Directors’ Forum “Festival of Plays”, held on the main campus at the Learning Resource Centre (LRC). Historically, these have been so well-received that many theatre-goers purchase season passes for access to all shows.
There are also numerous events that showcase the musical talent at The UWI from some of the eight music ensembles of the DCFA. Choral offerings and instrumentals, including jazz, featuring the steelpan, guitar, wind instruments and percussion were performed in Arima, San Fernando, and Port of Spain.
In the January to May 2020 semester, there are many more events to come. These include The Old Yard, the signature event of the Carnival Studies unit, featuring traditional mas’ characters, extempo, old time calypso, crafts and drumming. Visual Arts will also have their major exhibition.
Besides branding the DCFA and training its students, Season of the Arts has another major purpose. It’s a gift to society. These young and talented performers, visual artists and festival managers in training, under the tutelage of their teachers at the DCFA, provide audiences with entertainment and enrichment matched by few events.
Besides branding the DCFA and training its students, Season of the Arts has another major purpose. It’s a gift to society. These young and talented performers, visual artists and festival managers in training, under the tutelage of their teachers at the DCFA, provide audiences with entertainment and enrichment matched by few events.
And if you are a student of the DCFA, a young performer seeking to establish yourself in your chosen art form, Season of the Arts is a gift as well.
“When you practise a craft you want to have an avenue to share it,” says Mr Mc Williams, adding that, “we look forward to the public continuing to support the DCFA and our students.”
For more information on Season of the Arts and the DCFA visit their website at https://sta.uwi.edu/fhe/dcfa/ and events page at https://sta.uwi.edu/fhe/dcfa/events.asp.
