Dance Out There Needs Your Support

THE PROJECT

Dance Out There is a new and unique Caribbean competitive dance event that gives Caribbean Street Dance performers a rare opportunity to showcase their dance artistry and technique, in it’s many forms, whether hip hop, passa passa, or break dance.

‘Street Dance’ has become very popular with the youth in the region – but there’s little or no link to the potential for providing real artistic expression or to the possibilities for employment and income earning – Dance Out There was conceived to build that path.

The competing Crews (groups) will be rewarded for their creativity, showmanship and artistic expression. All performances are expected to be in good taste, with attention paid to safety and the entire competition is being done ‘alcohol free’ as most of the competitors and fans will be youth in school or recently left school. The overall concept is to push the positive potential of the dance.

Timothy Prescott, himself one of the region’s early ‘hip hop’ dancers, a member of the very popular Barbadian ‘Wee Bopp II’ group of the 1980s, saw the potential for these fledgling groups and set out to put together this regional competition that would provide a platform for the groups to be seen, compete and develop their skills and make connections with people who can provide work for the groups; musicians making videos, advertisers, hotels and show promoters.

The longer term aims include sending the regional winners to compete internationally and bringing in international street dance stars to coach and mentor the local groups.

At this point, competitions are slated to be held in Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Vincent Grenada, Trinidad, Guyana, Jamaica, Antigua,

FUNDING

So far, it has been a personally funded project, assisted by community persons and small business trading in-kind assistance. The reality is that getting sponsorship for such new ventures is not easy, especially in the current economic hard times, and with the decision made to keep the shows non-alcohol, unfortunately it immediately rules out a very lucrative group of potential sponsors.

So the plan is to pull off the first local competition - Barbados – home turf - and use this to secure fuller funding/sponsorship for other islands and ideally, for the entire regional competition.

So far, the Barbados preliminaries have been held and video can be seen on the website: www.danceoutthere.com and on the facebook group www.facebook.com and search the group name Dance Out There – or use this tinyurl: http://preview.tinyurl.com/yhewdps

The Barbadian final is set for December 18^th at the Bajan Culure Village, Waterford – and the aim is to kick the show up a notch with higher quality – broadcast quality – video and a small number of performances by other artistes.

Funding is needed to make this happen – even if you have not been a part of organizing any event like this, you’d be aware that it costs quite a bit and while Tim is great at what he does, he’s not superhuman, he needs support and assistance to get this show really on the road and give these creative youth the opportunity they truly need.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

We've set up an online fundraiser and you can help by donating US$10 or more – the funds will be used to go towards operating costs – lighting, sound, performers fees, videography costs, prize money. And if you do choose to support this event, we’d be very grateful also if you promote this fundraiser to others you feel might like to join in.

Promotion is being handled at this point, by a collaborative effort – all the groups are distributing fliers, promoting to their fans on Facebook and selling tickets but if enough is collected, radio promotion will be done as well. You can join the Facebook group and promote the event on your profile also and on any social network you belong to – online and in the real world! It all helps.

If you’re interested in giving more substantial support or sponsorship or wish to give 'in kind', or if you need further info, please contact Tim at prescott.tim@gmail.com or kinemamarketing@gmail.com or call 246 242 8862.

Note to Caribbean supporters - unfortunately, as fate would have it, as we were putting up this fundraising page, a problem arose with the host's server and it appears some regional ip addressess cannot get through - please, if you'd like to help and you can't get through - drop us a line and we'll give you local bank details or an address to send a draft if you'd like. JUST ADDED - Paypal 'Donate' Button at top of the post - you can use this to give your support!

Thank you, as they say, in advance, for any and all the support you can give.

PLEASE Share this post and the fundraiser!

C’est La Vie

So today, after fussing and fixing and smoothing and filing and adding bits here, there…getting it all just right, I loaded up the kiln – not a big batch, but still, a good amount of work-time invested. I remembered to set my cellphone to alarm. I fiddled with the pyrometer – I use an old simple kiln and its temperature gauge certainly doesn’t work – got it to read properly.

All well and good.

Couple hours later, the firing is done – can’t open straight up because I’m firing silver onto porcelain, so I have to let it cool slowly so the porcelain won’t crack.

5.20 – YAY! It’s cool enough to open – this is a good set of work – the ones I did ‘special’ with extra bits and 4 pieces that are ‘one-offs’, so I’m excited…some of these I’ll use to launch my Etsy shop next week…

Or not. Apparently my pyrometer is bust.

Here’s what I found

Okay, you can see all the lovely colours of my porcelain pieces, but you're not supposed to see so much of that; there's supposed to be silver on all those raised parts...don't even ask about the dark marks where the sterling wire just evaporated...or the lovely plain white vessels where flowers and swirls used to adorn...

So not only have I wasted about a day of work time again, I’ve used up all my ‘Silver Overlay Paste’ and made some nice shiny silver balls with it – guess I didn’t need to get that ‘Fine Silver Casting Grain’ for decorative silver balls after all. Delete that, these little shinies seem very well stuck onto the porcelain…hmm, design rethink I guess.

My lovely piece that was going to hold my hand cut, hand polished piece of St. Lucian Jasper/Agate, that took about 20g of Silver Clay, well, we’ll just have to start over there…when I can get some more clay.

And note to self; Add crucible and tongs to list of equipment needed – my stock of silver to be melted down and cast is growing. Add Delft Clay Casting kit to list too, and modelling wax…

And on top of it, I figure I’ll have to get a new Cone 8 Pyrometer – or see at least if anyone locally can fix AND test the one I have. Until that time, I am out of commission, back to stringing beads. Maybe it’s time to do some resin casting again.

Back in the day I’d’ve been crying by now; maybe it’s having grown up seeing countless glass and china favourites smash to smithereens on the hard tile floors of the family home, or maybe I have achieved an inner peace that allows me to accept the things I cannot change. Maybe both. Or maybe I’m just getting hardened to the cruel jokes of life in my old age.

Whatever, I don’t really think I’m getting hardened, no worries there, I am not totally serene either, but I know for sure that I prefer being at least this calm in the face of challenges; I think one of the biggest and most useful lessons that I’ve learnt in life is that disaster shrinks in scale when you can put it in its place and find ways to pick up the pieces and move on. Etsy, we’ll start you with some other pieces ok?

So, by all means commiserate with me – I’m not that serene that I can’t enjoy a good ‘Poor djab’ from anyone who feels like giving it! And likewise, now that I’ve asked for that, if you don’t pat me on my shoulder and say nice comforting things, I’ll probably feel a little bad for myself, so…

What do you do when disaster strikes? Calm or KRAYZEEE?

Have any stories to share?

Any encouragement for this calm but still hurtin’ soul?

Please share your thoughts!

Until next time - thanks for reading - if you enjoyed it, you can sign up to receive new posts direct to your inbox via 'email subscription' or use the RSS subscription if you like using a reader...

Investing In Women Awards Grant to Women Business Owners

Just coming off talking about networking – I got this in my inbox and am happy to publicize the first grant award of Investing in Women; This site is full of networking opportunities, a place where a lot of sharing of links and info and promotion goes on and now, grant giving – all with the aim of helping those who join in, to get where they’re going.

I’d like to think that the business awarded too, with it’s aim of helping foster kids find their way to independence, will help nurture those special bonds of shared experience, growth and strength that form the strongest networks of all. So, without further ado – Congratulations!

Montclair NJ, November 9, 2009- Investing In Women has awarded their first grant to a woman owned business in the USA. The recipient of the award is Tanisha Cunningham, founder of The Underground Railroad to Success (www.railroad2success.com).

The URS is a non-profit that provides a service to foster children aging out of the system to live independently as adults while becoming an integral part of society. This is great for foster children and also has a positive affect on our society as a whole.

“Aging out” is the term used for children who go into foster care, but are never returned to their families of origin or adopted by others. They stay in the system until they turn 18, or graduate from high school, and for the most part, are left to fend for themselves as best they can.

Tanisha Cunningham started URS in January of 2009. A child of foster care herself, she saw the need for foster kids to have additional support when they were no longer eligible for state run services. Soon after her foster care ended, she began a career in child welfare “I wanted to stay there because my passion had always been to give back, because I knew the struggles of living in foster care, and the fear of leaving unprepared, not having a place to go or having the skills to obtain a job.”

Investing In Women is a free business resource site, grant program and marketing venue for entrepreneurs. The organization plans to offer several micro grants in 2010, including grants that are not awarded based on gender and yes, international people, down the line, perhaps if we participate even more in this network, there may be opportunities for international projects to be granted funds.

Caribbean creatives and entrepreneurs – take a look at Investing in Women and see what we can learn from their example and do join in on the site - there’s a lot of help out there and a lot of good business relationships and indeed friendships to be made, so jump in!

Featured Business: The Underground Railroad To Success. Dedicated to leading all foster children through the tunnel of independence.

Share your thoughts - this blog ain't saying nothing without you!

So drop us a few lines in the comments section...go on :D

And while you're here, subscribe so you don't miss anything - email and RSS buttons are all over the place, somewhere or the other...maybe you can find where I put them...

A Few Thoughts on Arts and Networking in the Caribbean

So, if I am swinging in a hammock in the island breezes when it comes to my feelings about Climate Change, then I must be on a rollercoaster over my feelings about networking in the Caribbean for the Cultural Industries.

Caught between the overwhelming time demands of just getting my own work done to a point where I can say I have a line or two of designs to sell and the increasingly constant e-communications that deal with one form of networking or another - it’s potential, the need for it, the dangers of not embracing it…I feel on the one hand like running off to hide anywhere that doesn’t have communication with the ‘outside’ world and on the other, annoyingly excited by the potential prospects.

Ironically, some of those emails, blog posts and tweets about the potential and the need in fact originate from my own computer – whoops this is another one! I believe in the potential gains for us Caribbean Creatives of networking and I believe in the dangers of remaining insular and untrusting at the levels we have tended to operate over many years. But Gassah! The reality of dabbling in the building of networks in-between our lovely islands! What a mirage it seems sometimes. And then I start to wonder if I’m right or I’m missing the point and missing my own business in the process.

Work on establishing Caribbean Networking of Creatives is going on though, with various agencies involving themselves at some level or another. But have we made any progress at all? Have we established any connections that work? Are we just spending EU grant funds, writing reports and still not getting any networking going?

I don’t know about other islands but I know in St. Lucia, in general, many Creatives are tired of losing creative time to attending meetings and workshops that promise the world and deliver only time ill-used. I’m hoping the rest of the region is faring better and so we ‘just’ need to put our house in order…

Is it the same with the promises of ‘Networking’?

As far as I’m aware, at present there’s a CARICOM initiative for developing Creative Industries (and I think they’re relying on a regional committee to network for this), there’s the Caribbean Export Development Agency efforts, which include some regional meetings on design needs and networking, and I believe, an ongoing attempt to gather information on ‘stakeholders’ in the region. Then recently, going on right now, and OECS/EDU series of meetings designed to establish designer networks.

Are any of these working?

On a brighter note – I attended a meeting of a new organization called PACE – Professionals in Action for Creative Enterprise, now that’s a good name. Embracing all the professionals in the Cultural Industries this group aims to circumvent the normal routes of relying on government and government agencies to spearhead development and to get things going themselves.

A network set up by professionals, for professionals…will it work? Is this the route we should take if we do indeed need to pool our resources and efforts?

So, Creatives – Caribbean and Global, what do you think?

Do you want to network? If you do, who do you want to network with? And what are you hoping to get from networking?

Or do you believe we should just put our noses to the grindstone and get on with business as we know it?

Who’s having success building their business and has networking played a role in your success?

Let YOUR VOICE be heard - post a comment nuh, pleeeaassee!

And subscribe to the RSS or Email so you can know when more earth shattering thoughts and questions are posted here...

Climate Change - "How is me uh?"

Living on a small island in the Caribbean I swing lazily, like a hammock between coconut trees, between being concerned about Climate Change on the good days and feeling indignant about having to bother about it at all on the bad ones. So when I decided to join Blog Action Day,  I had to think long and hard about what to write!

In general I like the notion of being environmentally responsible. I’m happy to recycle my soft-drink bottles…and it doesn’t hurt when someone else takes them to the recycler for me. Course I could just stop drinking soft-drinks, I suppose.

I won’t be caught with a piece of coral in my hand. Though, that may be more because my sister, Fisheries Dept of St. Lucia, was always threatening to charge me if I used coral in my arts; it’s all illegal in St. Lucia you know, EC$5000 fine to boot. But I feel – and look - better if I say it’s because I am being caretaker to the seas.

Then how is it that I, as an artist cannot just enjoy using the beauty of the rainforest woods from South America and our own very Forest Reserves? That should be my right.

Whoy gasson!

How the hell I supposed to make authentic local creative products if I can’t use what’s in my own backyard? And, so who tell everybody use up all the wood and t’ings in the first place!?! Now people look at you like you’re a criminal if you use the same very things they’ve been using up so likrishly for so long. How is me uh?

So sometimes I care about this (probability of) Climate Change and sometimes I watch BBC documentaries that seem to tell me it’s out of my hands and I think well yes, who are we to think we’re so powerful to change the Earth as we know it?

I tired of all those powerhungrypoliticiansandwannabefamouspeople always making a fuss to look like they care and like they know what’s really going on, telling ME I have to change my ways or my front step will meet up with Atlantis. Yeah right, we can’t even tell if it’s going to rain this afternoon.

I mean, we live on a thin crust on top a swirling mass of melted up rocks with only puffs of loosely stuck water vapour and dust to protect us from Cosmic rays. Wasn’t it just a month ago they said, Soufriere (the Montserrat one) looked like it was going dormant? Two weeks later, it’s spewing ash and all sorts of stuff again. None of us saw the tsunami coming that Christmas ago, when was that again? Who are we kidding?

The sea level is rising. So is Barbados. Who’s to say that one thing won’t lead to another altogether - and not the one we think it will?

Then on a bad, bad day I think, “It’d serve all them smug 1^st Worlders living high in low Manhatten and London and wherever right. Let their cities go meet Atlantis. I live on a hill. They’re the ones that used everything up anyway aren’t they?”

And the hammocks swings me back again and I know I’m revelling in those most cherished of human misbehaviours; I didn’t do it, it’s not my responsibility, I can’t do nothing anyway.

And the hammock comes to rest and I reluctantly accept I know one thing for sure; I don’t know how big a role we play in climate change, no-one is absolutely certain about that, but without a doubt, unless I poke out my eye to spite myself, I can’t help but see everyday and everywhere that what you and you and you…….and I do affects the place we all live in.

So just as every piece of garbage I drop makes a home for a mosquito or suffocates a turtle, every piece I pick up, dispose of properly, or best yet, stop from existing in the first place, removes the same problem. And just as all the little eddies and flows of the natural breezes and seas add up to our planet’s climate, so, it seems to me, all our little actions add up too.

We too like to say ‘No Problem’ in these islands, wonder if we can really live it.

And before you ask what all these little things I will do will achieve in the face of the rampant ravaging our ‘more developed’ brothers and sisters carry on with, or if they will really be more than just a speck of dust in nature’s universe; Just don’t ask because I can’t answer you.

All I know is what I can see for myself and what I, myself can do. So I may as well go on ahead and do it. It can’t hurt me if I do and my eyesight still good enough to see that it will hurt me, one way or other if I don’t.

Is me fuh tru…

If you enjoyed this post, why not sign up for email updates or via RSS - you can do this using the buttons at the top right of the post

And please do share using your favorite social media links

And a post is best when it's finished off with comments from YOU!

Arts & Crafts in St. Lucia Dealt a Hard Blow

Today I was jolted into finally writing about this by the news that SLASPA’s lawyers locked the doors of the St. Lucia Arts & Crafts Cooperative shop at La Place Carenage. Why? Because this ‘great’ organization got itself into a big load of debt by allowing mis-management to take place and the resultant loss of much of members’ sales monies and share monies.

One Board decided not to pay rent over the landlord’s decision to raise rental rates – this, most members believe, was not sanctioned by the membership, but because of poor reporting, happened. It seems additionally, that persons ‘representing’ the SLACC also took an aggressive, perhaps even rude, attitude to the management of La Place Carenage in dealing with this; certainly not what the membership had requested!

Anyhow, matters were eventually placed in the hands of the lawyers and the SLACC has now been taken to court, given notice to quit, and now, been locked out of the shop where their only income is earned.

This letter is my personal take on these issues, I am a member of the SLACC and have taken part in trying to sort out this whole mess – investigating accounting practices and suggesting admin systems that would help keep better track of what’s going on. Several people have made outstanding efforts as members, to put in the extra effort to get things on the track they should have been on originally, members had even voted to put off receiving payments for sales, but apparently, our efforts have not been enough.

My thoughts were that this should have been taken to the ‘higher powers’ ages ago – it was obvious that unless someone helped us, we would not be able to pay our way out of this debt – which we all agreed we owe SLASPA. We’d need any combination of debt forgiveness, financial assistance to do low season activities to raise income – such as run training workshops for instance, and for general promotion – like to make locals aware of the existence of the shop and that the items sold are not just touristic souvenirs but are stylish and attractive for locals too.

But let’s be realistic. This is a member and voluntary Board run organization and more so, it’s made up of persons who make their living or part thereof, from handwork. What does this mean and why is it important?

Well, when you’re making products by hand, the biggest cost, by far, is the labour cost – how long it takes you to make an item. Your income earning possibilities are directly limited by how much time you can put into making items, and of course you have to also take time to get them sold. This combined with high import duties and virtually impossible to use ‘duty concession’ arrangements (using them often costs more than the duties for micro-entrepreneurs since you have to use a broker and that’s after the laborious process of applying has been gotten through) makes it very difficult for persons whose business is in making products, to take time to dedicate to running something like a cooperative.

So realistically, the whole thing was set a nigh impossible task from the outset. Unless there had been sufficient, real support for the organization and its shop from the beginning. Now, when the shop was first launched, it was in the early times of La Place Carenage, and we were given the wonderful location where Diamonds International now operates – this was given FREE. That was fantastic and by rights, earnings from that period should have put the Cooperative in the position that it would be able to follow on when location and rent both changed to less favourable terms.

But again, it comes back to being realistic, systems were not put in place – support was not there from any body responsible for the ‘development’ of crafts, microbusiness, cooperatives, or any other sector that fits the SLACC’s operations. The membership, being largely made up of persons without the requisite knowledge, experience, skills or available time to run such an operation, could not on its own, get things right.

This should not be the case in St. Lucia – and I must say that there are persons, officers, in various government departments who have tried to help us within their mandates and resources, but it just doesn’t even begin to resemble the kind of development programme that is needed and has been needed for years. You may think the ‘powers that be’ don’t know what needs to be put in place – I’d say, not so; there have been a number of studies that have all resulted in essentially similar recommendations.  A project was almost set up after a 6 month consultancy was done under the Heritage Tourism Project, but what, politics perhaps, got in the way – and then probably, and I am speculating  here, the funding wasn’t used so it was ‘taken back’? Whatever, the very much needed support mechanisms were not put in place and since then, there have been meetings, commitments to ‘review the needs’, small projects, but nothing remotely resembling a programme for the realistic development of the arts and crafts industries.

So is it worth it for St. Lucia to invest in this area? I’d say a resounding YES! A number of years back I remember being shocked at the then Tourism Minister saying that sales of ‘arts, crafts & souvenirs’ (not a quote) during Jazz amounted to around $2 million dollars – I quickly called up a few of the bigger producers I know, none of them had made anything remotely resembling their share of these figures. The reality, I guess that was what visitors spent during that time on ‘goods’ – clothing, toiletries, souvenirs etc. Most of that would be imported items, but the important thing is, that money was spent in St. Lucia and represents a realistic figure to be targeted by the arts, crafts, souvenirs, designer goods industry.

Did anyone know that the ‘Crafts Industry’ was a priority industry – like agriculture and tourism – for years? If so, where was the real evidence of this priority?

I’m calling on anyone who can make a difference, who can make things happen, to take this sector seriously. We have a lot of talented persons in St. Lucia but they are not operating effectively and sustainably. The sector – at very conservative estimates – employes about 500 persons. The potential for employment is much, much higher.

There are real issues that need to be dealt with and can be dealt with – using local talents of persons such as myself and others that are able to assist with design issues, production issues, preparation for market, development of market facilities. We may also need ‘outside’ assistance, but a lot can be done with local expertise. The reality is, we cannot do this on a voluntary basis and should not be asked to – we need real, properly funded programmes to make things happen.

So, I’m sending out a plea, to the government, agencies, persons in positions to make a difference, lets get serious about this important and potentially valuable sector, let’s talk and follow that up with real action.

Please do share your thoughts in the comments section below - and share this article on your favourite social media sites!

And you can subscribe by RSS or for email updates (top rt of post) so you can get new posts!

Equipment Crisis - Help Needed

Below is a snip of a story from a bajan creative entrepreneur which touched off so many chords of understanding in me that i felt i must share the story with you. I hope one or more of the readers will have some useful advice or better still, a solution for this young woman.

I know this story with change of a few nouns could be told by many of us in the Caribbean at some point in our freelance careers; we have great talents, often see well beyond what's going on in the region in our area's development - be it providing design services to crafters, e-commerce to businesses, professional photography and graphics to effectively brand, creative 'upcycle' concepts that simultaneously solve garbage issues and the need for costly importation of raw materials, whatever our special foresight and talent is, we all too often suffer for lack of the resources to effectively get our work done.

Beyond that, even when we've gotten the basic tools we need to work, the hard reality is that damage to just one key tool can set us into a spiral that is like our own personal tsunami - washing away jobs, clients, income in a shockingly short time.

I'm using this to call for solutions, not just to the 'sungodess' immediate needs, but to the needs of our region's talented micro-entrepreneurs: we need networks, we need organizations that cater to us truly - not that consider small business and smaller all the same thing.

We need crisis relief systems - this happens to many of us and not through any fault of our own - there needs to be some system for emergency relief in cases such as this. I know it exists elsewhere - for instance http://www.artistrelieffund.org/ or http://craftemergency.org/ are just two that pop up at the top of the search engines...let's do something people - please see if you can help sungoddess and pitch in with your thoughts on what we can do beyond this too.

So here's that snip from the SunGoddess' blog-please continue reading on her blog, link below:

UPDATED (2): iMac Heartbreak: Fear & Worry For My Family

I must start at the beginning, for those of you who have not been following my reported travails in this situation through my Facebook and Twitter posts over the last couple of months.
Almost two months ago, electricity surged through my building and killed my iMac. At least that is what I thought had happened. I don’t actually know what happened. I had three other laptops on, plugged into the same surge suppressor, hard-drives plugged in all over, and none of them experienced any problems.
However, in searching forums online, I found numerous people reporting similar or close enough for me to figure something serious was up. Bottom line, my computer that had never given me trouble previously, suddenly went AWOL. And has remained decidedly so ever since.
I boxed it up the next day, and had to endure the humiliation of having my mother pay to send it back to California, where my dear friend took it into Apple for repair or replacement.
By the time it got there–admittedly a while after I sent it–it was out of warrantee. When I sent it, it was under warrantee, but by the time Apple saw it, it was out of warrantee. That aside, Apple agreed to honour the warrantee, because when it arrived in California, my friend was travelling and it could not be brought in time. It was only a week or so out of warrantee in any case. Nothing to scream about, they’re known to help people out like me.
Apple opted not to replace it, but instead ordered a new logic board with the integrated upgraded NVidia GeForce card I ordered with the machine, a new power management unit and a new screen.
They boxed it up, my friend collected it and sent it back to me.
By this time, it had been gone for almost six weeks.
My finances were decimated by this. I needed the machine to work to capacity, and neither of the two laptops here are more than web browsing machines, and only one of them really useful. None can power the tool kit that I use to do what it is I do every day.
I lost both my main contracts, had to turn down a couple projects because I knew I couldn’t do them justice, and basically by this point, when it got back from California, I was dead broke and living off of the charity of friends and my family.

READ MORE HERE

As always, please share this post and please add in your thoughts and suggestions or questions below - love to hear from you