A VERBAL HERITAGE MAP
“Just as our people were imported to these islands, so were the skeins that we use to weave the fabric of our oral tradition,” says Patricia Glinton-Meicholas, native of the Bahamas and founding president of the Bahamas Association for Cultural Studies, who who presented a lecture in July at the IDB. Not sursprisingly, she said, the “ol’ stories” of her islands bear striking similarities with folktales from Africa.
A VIEW FROM THE STREET
How does it feel to be a street child? Theatregoers in Buenos Aires had a chance to find out by attending the play “Amanecer bajo los puentes” (Dawn under the bridges). Chronicling the hopes and the fears of these children, cast out on their own to survive as best they can, the play speaks with an unmistakable tone of authority. The reason is that the actors are street children themselves. But acting has given them a new life. The play grew into a program to rescue street children, which received funding from an IDB program to support small-scale cultural activities. Gradually, the children started drifting away from their old home in the railroad station, some going to live in the program’s rented house and others returning to their families.
SOUNDS OF THE CARIBBEAN
Smooth, sensuous and fiery was the way to describe the blend of calypso, salsa, samba and reggae performed recently at the IDB’s Washington, D.C., headquarters by the Caribbean Art Jazz Ensemble. The group, whose members currently live in the U.S. state of Maryland, performed works that included compositions by pianist/co-leader David Boothman.