“Fi Wi Heritage”, a presentation by some 20 members of the Sandals and Beaches resorts in Negril, delighted students of the Rusea’s High School with a wide range of traditional dance forms such as gerreh, dinki mini and bruckins recently.

The event – aimed at raising funds for the school towards the building of a bus shed and the construction of a classroom for the sixth form block – represented the first outreach of its kind for both the school and the resorts. It also marked an additional layer in the relationship which has been formed between the resorts and Rusea’s High School. Earlier this year managers of the hotel participated in the school’s Career Day as well as provided guidance counselling to students during the Annual Boys’ Day event.

The Rusea’s High School choir, which gained fame through TVJ’s ALL Together Sing Competition, also participated with the performance of a medley of well-executed folk songs. The hotel also brought in stage and audio equipment with one of their staff serving as disc jockey under the moniker DJ Asarie.

According to Andrew Martin, entertainment manager at Sandals Negril and coordinator of the show, “It was a pleasure for Sandals Resorts to give back to the community in this way” to add variety, a bit of pop dance was thrown in with Germaine Stewart of the Beaches Negril team and his dance partner, “Whacky Dabby”, demonstrating the latest hip hop and dancehall moves. They were challenged by dancers from among the school population of course, but the duo’s advance stage experience gave them a huge advantage.

The cast of “Fi Wi Heritage” received a standing ovation from the over 500 students. Now there’s a high demand for the group to perform at other schools to expose students to these traditional dance forms, which is a dying art form in most communities.

Sandals’ Regional Public Relations Manager Khadine Daley said the cultural performance marked a milestone in the community outreach efforts of Sandals Resorts International, and she expects that projects

like this will be magnified through the company’s umbrella organisation, Sandals Foundation, which has a community focus.