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The annual Jersey Eisteddfod Festival of the Performing Arts, which is sponsored by Deutsche Bank and Butterfield Bank, continues to grow and evolve with a number of new additions set to be unveiled when it gets under way next month.
In particular, the Dance Section of this year’s Festival has proved so popular that the start date has been moved forward. Instead of the Section,which happens biennially,starting on the morning of Wednesday 28th November, it is now beginning on the evening of Tuesday 27th November to accommodate all the dancers wanting to perform. This year, the Section is receiving financial support from FCM Trust.
Furthermore, two new Jèrriais classes have been added to the Festival. Following the translation of the children’s book “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt” by Michael Rosen into Jèrriais as ‘J’allons à la Chasse à l’Ourse”, there is now a class for ‘Dramatic Presentation’ which eight schools will compete in.
There will also be a ‘Choral Singing’ class in Jèrriais. This follows the success of local children singing songs such as ‘Man Bieau P’tit Jèrri’ during the Island’s Liberation celebrations.
The Modern Languages section will see the return of Russian after its debut last year, as well as all the regular languages of Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, Polish and Mandarin Chinese. This will culminate in a joint ‘Languages Gala’ and will include French and Jèrriais on Saturday 1st December at St Andrew's Community Centre at 2.30 pm.
Meanwhile, the Music Section, which begins on the 9thNovember, takes place at the Jersey Opera House and St Helier Methodist Church every morning, afternoon and evening for nine consecutive days, culminating in the Junior Winners Competition, and Concert on Saturday 17thNovember at 7.30pm.
Further developments include a new trophy for the English, Speech and Drama section, courtesy of the St Clements Women’s Institute, for those who write and perform their own poetry. A new class for ‘techies’ has also been created by Jersey Arts Centre Deputy Director Steven Laffoley-Edwards which will see teams of three set tasks to demonstrate their backstage skills.
Finally, in a new ‘Spontaneous Public Speaking Class’, competitors will be given a topic at the time of performance and then only five minutes to prepare and three minutes to speak, with notes allowed. There will also be the much sought-after John Uphoff Memorial Trophy for the Most Memorable Adult Performance of the Week.
General Administrator, Christine Hamon commented“We are grateful as always to our sponsors Deutsche Bank and Butterfield Bank for their support. The addition of so many exciting classes and strong uptake in the dance section shows that the Autumn Festival is as strong as ever and should prove to be a very entertaining and rewarding event for all."
Dates and Venues:
9th– 17thNovember – Music at the Jersey Opera House
17thNovember – Polish and Portuguese at the Town Hall
19th– 24thNovember - English Speech and Drama at the Jersey Arts Centre
23rdand 24thNovember - Jèrriais at St. Ouen’s Parish Hall
27thNovember – 1stDecember – Dance at the Jersey Opera House
27thand 28thNovember – French at the Jersey Arts Centre
29thNovember - Modern Languages (Spanish, German, Italian, Russian and Mandarin Chinese) at the Jersey Arts Centre
