National Institute of Arts (NIA) will round off its inaugural year with three evenings of performances starting Thursday, June 12 and ending Saturday, June 14.
NIA, which was founded last year via a merger between the former institutions Motiance Dance School and Imbali Center for Performing Arts, offers a wide variety of classes across artistic disciplines including; choir, theatrical drama, nouveau clowning: the art of laughing, gymnastics, sound engineering, etc.
“We are not limited in the classes we provide to our students and these performances will demonstrate that, because we plan to use aspects from all. We will also be presenting an original story written by Iris Hakkens called Anansi and the Great Salt Pond, drawing awareness to the environment and using folktale as a vehicle to caution about its preservation. Another very special piece will be a ballet incorporating living statues and the paintings of Degas,” NIA Co-director, Arlene Halley said.
The theme for this year’s performances is ‘A Step Beyond’ referencing NIA’s growth over the last year.
“NIA is an extraordinary center for artistic excellence and we want people to know that we are a step beyond so many things, even in terms of the classes we offer and the teachers we have working with us. We always go that extra mile to deliver quality in everything we do, so we want people to know that we always try to go a step beyond even our best,” NIA Co-director, Clara Reyes said.
Each night will have a different theme and will be followed with an after party for those in attendance.
“After every show people will be able to stay and mingle. We know that on previous occasions people missed this aspect and we wanted to incorporate that this time. So we have created a way to extend the excitement, especially for the kids, so that they can enjoy the experiences of their performances and socialize a little longer,” Halley said.
The first night, which begins at 7pm, Thursday, June 12, will have presentations from persons involved in musical theater, drama, the national youth choir and nouveau clowning: the art of laughter. The after party will consist of wine or apple juice and cheese. The second night Friday, June 13, which also starts at 7pm, is mainly geared towards teens and will feature belly dancing, modern dance, hip-hop, African, jazz, gymnastics and will have a glow after party. The final evening, which begins at 5pm, is for the little ones and will have a Frozen themed after party where children can come dressed up as their favorite cartoon characters.
“Each evening will be amazing and different. We plan to transform the building of the John Larmonie Center and make it becoming a living structure for these three days. Performances will be happening simultaneously in different parts of the building and we will have moving audiences, so that people will always be busy taking things in. We want to really showcase the gamut of disciplines that NIA has to offer and in a way that also allows people to engage and interact with each other,” Reyes said.
Wristbands, which will act as entrance tickets for the evenings, can be purchased at the John Larmonie Center starting Saturday, June 7 for $5.
“This has been a very busy year for us, but it has been on of growth and of learning also and we encourage people to come out and enjoy the fruits of our journey with us,” the NIA Co-directors said.
