A dance group in all districts as from next year |24 September 2022

The Emergency Crew in a souvenir photograph with Minister Hoareau and PS Perine

With the recent launch of the Emergency Crew community-based dance programme, the Ministry of Local Government and Community Affairs in collaboration with the Emergency Crew now wants a dance group in all districts as from early next year.

This collaboration is expected to last for two years.

Principal secretary in the ministry, Kevin Perine, explained that the collaboration with the Emergency Crew started when he attended a programme led by the group.

“I was amazed by not only their performance but also their discipline. So I stepped in and challenged them to have a programme in each district. The minister (Rose-Marie Hoareau) completely supported the programme, which will definitely promote a healthy lifestyle and instill much discipline in our youth,” shared PS Perine.

He noted that the programme will use the platform ‘Beyond Season 3’ this year to include dancers from Mahé and Praslin and as from next year, classes will start on a regional basis before spreading in all districts.

The director of this project, Gael Guichard, a well-known dancer and also initiator of the project, shared that after the successful journey of the Emergency Crew, they are now collaborating with the government to help the youth in all the districts of Seychelles.

“When we first started, we had a small group of youth and we started growing and more youth showed interest in our work. With the pandemic in 2020, we dancers were badly struck and could no more perform. We then collaborated with Télésesel, National Arts Council and the Seychelles National Youth Council and Cinea for the 2020 edition. We continued with a second edition and now we are launching Season 3 of the Beyond and the new logo.”

This year they are using the platform ‘Beyond Season 3’ to have youths from all districts to participate in the dance show which will be aired on Télésesel and as from next year with the Emergency Crew community-based dance programme, there will be a dance group in all districts. Currently the district administrators will start promoting this idea and the youths will have to fill in a form available at the DA’s office.

“The classes will be done twice a week in the districts with the five main dancers of the Emergency Crew. We already have a group of 65 dancers and our aim is to help the youths stay away from negativity. We also acknowledge that dancers are not recognised artists and with the implementation of the programme we want to change that. We want dancers to be also nominated in awards,” stated Mr Guichard.

While launching this vibrant community activity, the Minister for Local Government & Community Affairs, Rose-Marie Hoareau, recognised that this initiative is mainly spearheaded by young people.

“I want to say bravo to the Emergency Crew for showing that the youths have positive things to contribute to our communities,” the minister said.

Minister Hoareau shared that part of the mandate of her ministry is to develop programmes that effectively and positively impact the lives of people of all age groups in the communities.

“We continue to encourage individuals and organisations to come forward and together we can introduce ‘activities’ that will engage our citizens in constructive endeavours.”

The public has already seen the dance performances by the Emergency Crew and are now gearing up to see the finale of ‘Beyond Season 3’ in December.

The accompanying photos show some highlights of the launch of the community activity.

Vidya Gappy