Festival Kreol 25-10-2014 Creole nations vibrate to the same rhythm The Festival Kreol opened yesterday for revelries that will last a week. It was fitting that the first event on the calendar was about the similarities in the traditional dances of the Indian Ocean. While the scheduled events will be above all a celebration of the Creole culture and spirit, discussions on the Creole identity, Creole architecture, traditional medicine will also take place. By AB “The islands of the Indian Ocean move to the same rhythm, this similarity tells us that we are from the same ancestors and this is what defines us as a Creole nation,” Minister for Tourism and Culture, Alain St Ange said yesterday. This was during the first event of the Festival Kreol that opened on Friday - a one and a half day forum on traditional dances of the Indian Ocean, held at the Coral Strand hotel. The ceremony was attended by Principal Secretary (PS) of Culture, Benjamine Rose, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Vanilla Islands, Pascal Viroleau, the vice-president of the regional council of La Réunion, Marie-Andree Lacroix Faveur. Other participants came from Seychelles, Mauritius, Rodrigues and La Réunion. Seychelles is currently working towards being nominated on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)’s list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity. It is for this reason that the local department of culture has invited regional sister islands to a forum so that Seychelles can learn from their best practices. Local representatives consisted of archives researchers, technicians from the music school, copyrights researchers and other experts. Sophia Rosalie, Research Officer at the National Heritage and forum coordinator told this newspaper that the forum would indeed guide Seychelles on the right path to nomination. “There are lots of similarities between the dances of Seychelles, Mauritius, Rodrigues and La Réunion. For instance we have all seen different versions of the famous “sega”. These countries have already been nominated on this list and the session will allow participants to share their best practices with us, create a regional understanding and strengthen our cultural ties,” she told TODAY. The nomination period is yet to be determined but participants at the forum are discussing the challenges ahead. “At UNESCO level, a lot is being done for the preservation of national heritages and consequently several countries have had their respective traditional dances inscribed on the list,” said PS Rose as she officially launched the ceremony yesterday morning. She added that Seychelles envisaged inscribing the “moutya” and “tinge” dances on the list of UNESCO’s heritage as the dances may be “threatened into extinction”. She had also noted that at a regional level, Seychelles shared other common things with the other islands, including culinary, music and dances. For his part, Minister St Ange highlighted that the forum should also be used to unite the islands for next year’s special celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Festival Kreol. “This is essential for looking ahead because as a Creole nation we want to envision our future 30 years from here,” he said adding that “we should move forward with an eye on the past and an eye on the future.” The ceremony was adjourned with a cheerful Creole version of “Happy Birthday” as Minister St Ange’s birthday coincided with the first day of the forum. The forum itself will adjourn today at noon following intense discussions on the way forward for the traditional dance.
Posted on: Mon, 27 Oct 2014 06:49:40 +0000
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