DANCERS ENTERED from the wings on to the stage in leaps, twirls and sometimes-graceful steps. Dressed in an array of costumes, students from Sangre Grande Secondary and Barataria North Secondary and others competed in the finals of the Secondary School Dance Festival on International Dance Day.

The competition, staged by the National Dance Association of Trinidad and Tobago, featured students aged 11 to 19 as they performed a variety of dances –– modern, ballet, folk, contemporary and hip-hop –– all in front of an audience of peers, parents and judges.

They used chairs and boxes as props and brought drummers on stage as musical accompaniments, but some dancers were obviously more talented than others as seen in their technique and the roars from the crowd.

Simeon Peters from Pleasantville Secondary School, who placed in all four categories where he performed, obviously has a dancing career in his future. Not only does he have a dancer’s long, lean body but his movements were limber and controlled.

In his modern contemporary solo piece, “African Inspiration,” he jumped high into the air, raised his leg over his hips and spun around with the style and precision of the performers of Broadway’s The Lion King. Coincidently, he used one of the songs from this popular show to perform his piece.

The girls in the audience went crazy and, naturally, he placed first in the solo male, 16-19 category.

Another gifted young man, a chubby student from SWAHA Hindu College, gold-garbed from head to toe performed to a medley of Trinidadian Indian songs that culminated in Chris Garcia’s “Chutney Bacchanal,” which also sent the students at the Rudranath Capildeo Learning Resource Center screaming.

Several female dancers presented hip-hop, contemporary, folk and ballet. But the contemporary dancers stole the show, winning the solo acts for both the 11-15 and the 16 - 19 categories. Rachel Questel from ASJA Girls’ College, Charlieville, performed a piece entitled “I Look To You” and Afiya Lewis of Pleasantville Secondary School performed in a fluttery orange dress to “Listen” by Beyonce.

In the group categories, Pleasantville Secondary School won the section titled Student Choreography. The large, orange and green, two-tiered sleeves brought theatrical elements into their folk interpretive piece, making the dance seem more exciting and expressive.

A group of 4 boys from Miracle Ministries High School placed first in the 11-15 group category with a hip-hop number and students from Sangre Grande Secondary School topped the 16-19 section.

At the end of the contest, before the results were announced, one of the judges commented on the presentations. He said that the dances were generally well done but that certain key elements of choreography were missing and that performers needed to dance with more expression.

He reminded them that dancers are the instruments and choreography sends messages through the dancers to the audience.

This competition was one of the last events of the National Dance Association’s self-declared “Dance Month: April 2011.”

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