DAY Two of the Region 3 (Essequibo Islands/West Demerara) Department of Education’s Children’s Mashramani Competition saw Nursery School children across the West Coast and West Bank of Demerara give dazzling performances.
Held at the Uitvlugt Community Centre Ground, the day’s activities commenced with the segment of Dramatic Poetry which included 11 well received recitals. The winners were Hydronie Nursery’s Athea Mohammed reciting ‘A GUYANESE CELEBRATION’; Genieve Nursery’s Kaitlyn Persaud delivering ‘THIS GREAT LAND’; and La Jalousie Nursery’s Ayesha Khan narrating, ‘TAKE HEED’.
The children were judged on speech, tone and mood, among other points, in the DRAMATIC POETRY CATEGORY.
The COSTUME SEGMENT came next, and with colourful displays and enthusiastic dancing, the children dazzled in their costumes. The winners in the TOPICAL-GROUP CATEGORY were Hague Primary (Nursery Class) displaying a ‘HINDU WEDDING’ (Placed 1st); Stanleytown Nursery advocating ‘WE ARE ONE’ (Placed 2nd); and Parika Nursery with ‘ENERGY BURST’ (Placed 3rd).
In the TOPICAL-INDIVIDUAL CATEGORY, the competition was between Sisters’ Nursery’s Shellyann Marshall showcasing ‘QUEEN OF THE EARTH AND SKY’ and M. Field-Ridley Nursery’s ‘CELEBRATING GUYANA’S RICH CULTURE’, which placed first and second respectively.
Also with two competitors was the category of FANTASY-GROUP COSTUMES. Copping 1st Prize was Windsor Forest Nursery, which aptly portrayed their theme of ‘O WHERE HAS MY LITTLE DOG GONE’. Placing 2nd was Vreed-en-Hoop Number Nursery Annex with their interpretation of ‘FAIRY TALE’.
The categories of INDIVIDUAL-FANTASY COSTUME AND CALYPSO had the lone participant of S.M. Field Ridley Nursery, Jadan Reidwald, displaying ‘LIGHTNING MCQUEEN’, and children of Sisters’ Nursery performing ‘WE MASHIN’. The participants received 1st Prize in their categories.
The costumes displayed were scored on their creativity, relevance to theme, originality and spirit of Mashramani.
Imaginative and energetic dances were showcased by children in THE GROUP DANCE CATEGORY, which was segmented into Religious Beliefs, Fantasy and Ring Dance.
Taking 1st Prize in the Religious Belief Category was Leonora Nursery, which performed ‘TAKING MY PROBLEM TO GOD’; in 2nd Place was Genesis Early Childhood with ‘IT’S A JOY TO SERVE THE WORLD’. In third place was Stanleytown Nursery with ‘CELEBRATION’.
In the FANTASY CATEGORY, Philadelphia Nursery placed 1st with their dance titled ‘UNITY’; Meten-Meer-Zorg Nursery placed 2nd with their ‘HAPPY’ dance of Minions; and placing 3rd was Corneila Ida Nursery with ‘RAJAS, RAM’.
The final segment, RING DANCE, had its 1st Prize winners from S.M. Field Ridley Nursery dancing to ‘SMALL DAYS’. De Kinderen Nursery performed ‘WE ARE ONE’, and copped 2nd Prize; whilst Stewartville Nursery did ‘FUSION OF CULTURE’ and placed 3rd.
Judges for the day’s activities included Mashramani Committee Member, Lynette Mckoy; Drama and English Teacher of West Demerara Secondary, Taneka Caldeira; Head of the Language Department at Vreed-en-Hoop Secondary, John Adams; Retired Senior Education Officer, Muriel Moses-Grant; Zeeburg Secondary teacher, Malcolm Fresco; and retired Teacher, Myrtle Garraway.
The 1st Prize winners will move on to represent the Region in the national competitions.
The activities continued yesterday at the Uitvlugt Community Centre Ground, where performers in the Primary Category were billed to compete in the Dramatic Poetry, Calypso and Dance categories of the competition.
Written By Raveena Mangal
Little Shelly Ann Marshall from Sisters Nursery is ‘Queen of Earth and Sky’
Jadan Reidwald from S.M. Field-Ridley Nursery displaying ‘Lightning McQueen’
Vreed-en-Hoop Nursery’s Fantasy ‘Fairy Tale’ Costume
Winsor Forest Nursery’s endearing display of ‘O Where has my Little Dog Gone’
Children of Genesis Early Childhood performing their Religious Group Dance
The Winning piece done by Leonora Nursery ‘Taking my Problem to God’
Meten-Meer Zorg Nursery’s ‘Minions’ performing their ‘Happy’ dance
Stewartville Nursery performing ‘Fusion of Culture’