Alison Sealy-Smith, Acting Chief Cultural Officer at the National Cultural Foundation (NCF) as she outlined the changes to NIFCA.
A new Performing Arts category and an online registration process are some of the changes added to this year’s National Independence Festival of Creative Arts (NIFCA).
Alison Sealy-Smith, Acting Chief Cultural Officer at the National Cultural Foundation (NCF) recently noted that participants in Music, Dance and Theatre will now be competing in three categories – Non-Professional, a new Semi-Professional category and a Professional category.
Earlier in June, as plans got underway for the start of this year’s NIFCA, the NCF communicated some major changes, following an in-depth critical analysis of the last ten years of its Performing Arts component. Also in early June, a public forum and rigorous discourse on both the new Semi-Professional category and the relevant rule changes was held for all prospective NIFCA participants at the Queen’s Park Steel Shed. The sessions were set up both for clarity and for the opportunity to effect any suggested changes before registration began.
“Coming out of that, it was confirmed that this year the participants in Music, Dance and Theatre, now performing in the soon to be concluded preliminary stage will be competing in the three categories – Non-Professional, a new Semi-Professional category and in the Professional category” Sealy-Smith acknowledged.
She also indicated that the criteria for this new Semi–Professional category has made provisions for individuals who: have gained some level of tertiary academic qualifications; have gained intermediate training from a recognised international institution along with their years of experience; and/or use the discipline as a part-time source of income.
According to the NCF, the aim is to create a clear path of advancement for new artistes entering the NIFCA Performing Arts, now moving them through these tiers of development from Non-Professional to Professional, as they further develop themselves within their related fields.
Sealy-Smith also revealed that the prize up for grabs in this semi-professional category is a BIMAP year-long course of study for a certificate in management studies, awarded to the highest scoring individuals in all three disciplines of the performing arts at a value of $2 500 each.
With regard to the registration process, the NCF took NIFCA from paper to electronics, with online registrations for all NIFCA disciplines, similar to that implemented for Crop Over. It was not a full paperless registration this year, but the intention is to move to a full online registration process in the future.
It was also noted that due to renovations at the Frank Collymore Hall, the usual venue for the NIFCA Performing Arts Finals has meanwhile been changed to the Major Noot Hall at the Combermere School, while the NIFCA Gala returns to
its original home at the Garfield Sobers Gymnasium Complex.
The Visual Arts Exhibition will be held at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre and the usual opening will be twinned with the Literary Arts Gala in an Evening of the
Arts celebration. (RSM)