Dancing out of step

EDITOR: Many harsh words can be said regarding the alleged tampering of the judges’ official results at the National Dance Festival, but I’ll say only this: Some people’s idea of success might look good in the newspapers, but if that success is not achieved through integrity, honesty and hard work, then it is not success at all. Those who fail to see this are in denial and have little love or respect for themselves or for others, and this is a very sad thing.{{more}}

Additionally, the repercussion of winning through fraudulent means has far-reaching and damaging effects: to those involved, how can they ever feel the real joy and satisfaction of achievement if they know in their hearts they didn’t earn it? What sort of message does winning by cheating or by knowing the ‘right’ person send to the people of this country? And this sort of behaviour diminishes the progress of dance no matter how many workshops or manuals are offered.

There are many naturally gifted dancers in St Vincent and the Grenadines, but the difference between good and great is proper training in dance and creativity, hard work and discipline. If representatives of the government and the KCCU sponsors dismiss these endeavours as irrelevant, and rather condone and sanction deceitful behaviour to give the appearance of these efforts, then there is no hope for dance to achieve anything but mediocrity. And this is very sad too.

So, unless the credibility of the competition can be restored, you can add our name to the long list of legitimate gold medal winners who will not participate in the next ‘NATIONAL’ Dance Festival.

Pam Ratti

Teacher/Choreographer

École de Ballet