Orisas to honour dancer and author

Stiens will be honoured at the festival for her contribution to Orisa dance and choreography.

Also being honoured for his contribution to Orisa literature will be Orisa author, Awo Falokun Fatunmbi from Mexico. Awo Fatunmbi has written such books as Iwa Pele which tells of his personal journey to and thru the Orisa and his personal development of good character.

In 1978, Stiens of Jamaica founded the company with a mission to present the rhythms of the Caribbean people on the world stage by “building bridges through the arts.” Its membership includes dancers from across the Caribbean including Trinidad, Jamaica, Barbados, Guyana, Bahamas and Suriname.

L’acadco — a united Caribbean dance force has electrified audiences around the world with their unparalleled creative energies and revolutionary fusion of rich Caribbean folklore with contemporary themes in a distinctive language called L’Antech created by its founder and artistic director Stiens.

Today L’acadco is widely regarded as Jamaica’s leading contemporary dance company which has worked with such international institutions as the Alvin Alley Dance Company, Garth Fagan, the London Production of The Lion King and Julliard.

Tomorrow the company will perform at the Orisa Rain Festival which continues at Shrine Gardens, Gasparillo Road, Santa Cruz.

Orisa devotees will also take part in an Egungun (ancestral) celebration which includes singing and chanting praise songs and spreading goodwill and blessings through the villages of Perico, El Carmen and Gasparillo tomorrow.

Workshops in Orisa songs/chants dance and drumming will begin at 11 am at Santa Cruz and will involve visiting groups from Guatemala and Jamaica. At 4.30 pm there will be a bonfire and storytelling for children two to 12 years old.

Tomorrow’s activities will conclude with Yungba Odun! Yungba Odun! (Night lime and gathering) featuring Desperadoes Steel Orchestra; Laventille Serenaders, the Network Riddum Band calypso disciples and of course a performance from the L’acadco.

The public is invited to attend the various activities which celebrate the coming of the rains and the propitiation ceremonies.