STELLA Maris Dance Ensemble served up a stellar presentation at their 22nd season of dance at the Little Theatre in St Andrew, recently.

The troupe took the audience on an exciting journey through time, while paying homage to Jamaica’s rich musical history and culture.

The opening piece was a ‘Patchwork’ of brilliance and energy, as the Tony Wilson-choreographed dancers compelled the audience to sit up and take note with an engaging African folk number. The beats of the Congo drum, occasional chant and African expression were all intertwined in the presentation and served to make it less about mere people dancing and more about telling a story through the arts.

Stella Maris Dance Ensemble’s founder and Artistic Director MoniKa Lawrence told Jamaica Observer that that was the aim.

“What we have been doing and continue to do is to speak to issues that affect us as a people, us as a nation. Some people write poems, some people write articles, we express it in dance. We celebrate it, we talk about it, we make people aware that it is happening, through the dance,” she said, noting the narrative quality of some of the pieces within their repertoire.

One of the most compelling routines was the piece entitled, Wanted, which focused on the criminalisation of black men. This one certainly got the audience thinking, as the black men in orange jump suits stepped purposefully to the sound of powerful poetry and music. The piece portrayed how black men were being oppressed in modern society, while a mother seeks to ‘save’ her son from criminalisation. These roles were played flawlessly by Wendi Hoo Fatt and junior member, Raheem Wallace, who also influenced the choreography. Wallace is a very promising young dancer as he recovered impressively from a fall in the piece Interconnection, soliciting rounds of applause from the audience.

Lawrence said that the growth of her young dancers is a source of pride.

“[The feeling] is one of accomplishment, especially as some of the dancers here are founding members. The accomplishment that comes from the 22 years is to see their growth,” she said.

Other pieces include My Language, originally mounted last year, that spoke or danced once again to racial issues. It was an ode to those black artists who use their medium — literature, art or otherwise — to give people of colour a voice. Once again, the dancers beautifully moved across the stage.

Stolen Inner-sense was the other social commentary work.

By the time the sixth routine, Supernova, hit the stage, the audience was already satisfied. A member of the audience was heard saying: “Mi glad mi come. Mi nuh waste mi money.” By then, the final performance was brawta. Entitled Riddim, the piece choreographed by Lawrence, Orville Hall and Shelly-Ann Callum, left the audience on a high. Tracing Jamaica’s musical heritage and accompanying dance moves, the dancers rocked to hits from Folks Bros & Count Ossie, Bob Marley, Elephant Man, Busy Signal, and Vybz Kartel. Placing this performance at the end was a very smart move on the part of the organisers, as no-doubt, the mostly youthful sold-out final night crowd was pleased.

Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts student, Sausha-Lee Beckford said that the show was good. However, she thought a bit more rehearsal would have helped.

“The show was good. I liked the movement, I like the energy…a bit more rehearsal would have helped as some of the movements weren’t on point,” she said.

Meanwhile, Brandon Chin Loy, 18, said that the final performace was his favourite.

“I knew most of the songs and could sing along,” he said.