There was a global dance invasion in Kingston at the weekend as dancers from Russia, Cuba, Germany, Sweden, China, Guyana, Australia, Kazakhstan, and the US joined those from The Rock for Plié for the Arts 2019. Under the theme Amalgamation, the audience at each performance was thrilled by the technical adroitness and sheer talent of the company of international dancers.

In curating each year’s Plié for the Arts, Artistic Director/Founder Marisa Benain aims to “create magic on the Jamaican stage”. This year, not only did she fulfil the brief, but did so splendidly.

Besides bringing global dance talent to our shores, Plié for the Arts is a fund-raiser that grants scholarships to Jamaican dancers to participate in dance-intensives in NYC. Since its inception, the Plié team has granted nine such scholarships, including to the 2019 recipient, Javal Lewis — a National Dance Theatre Company (NDTC) dancer trained by Elizabeth Vickers Samuda, who also danced as a part of this year’s Plié Collective.

One of the weekend’s most dramatic performances was Dying Swan — a piece from Russia’s famed Bolshoi Ballet. Choreographed in 1905 by Mikhail Fokine for famed prima ballerina Anna Pavlova (who performed the piece a whopping 4,000 times), Dying Swan is a study in anthropomorphism. At Plié for the Arts, Dying Swan was performed by Bolshoi First Solist Anna Tikhomirova, who truly took the audience through the life cycle of a swan.

Another spectacular piece was Excerpt from La Esmerelda performed by Cuban Principal Dancer Osiel Gouneo and Jamaican-Swedish Principal Dancer Nikisha Fogo. Watching these dancers move along the stage was, in a phrase, poetry in motion.

However, Jamaica’s NDTC had rousing, arm hair-raising rendition of Rex Nettleford’s Gerrehbenta. The audience was effusive in paying homage to Jamaican culture and Nettleford himself. Brava!

Plié for the Arts Amalgamation was indeed a magical weekend and the realisation of lifelong dreams.