By Rhonda Luke
Following 50 years since the genre of cadence gained fame here in Dominica and other parts of the world, a month has finally been established to observe and celebrate the pioneers of the art form and to raise greater awareness of the genre.
As part of ‘Cadence-Lypso month’ which will run from July 02- 30 2021, a series of panel discussions which will commence Friday, July 09, 2021, featuring those who were instrumental in advancing the music forward will form part of the month’s activities.
During the official launch on July 5, 2021, the mastermind behind the initiative, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Creole Heartbeat Leroy Wadix Charles highlighted that the next few weeks will be a celebration of the “noble musical genre.”
“The history of a lot of those legends will be told throughout the month each with a different story, how it started, how far it brought them and it will be remarkable to note that this cadence-lypso music shouldered Dominica to the four corners of the globe,” Charles explained.
While Charles is hopeful that by next year several patrons from neighbouring french territories where the music was first created by Dominica’s very own Exile one in the 1970s can celebrate the month with us, he is calling on Dominicans to foster a greater appreciation for cadence.
“Somewhere along the line we did not take the opportunity to claim it, we did not take the opportunity to do like what other genres have done with the genre like Jamaica, but we hope that we can start a movement where the private sector can start to get mobilized,” Charles stressed.
Adding his voice, member of the Konmité pou Etid Kweyol (KEK), Gregory Rabess stated that the month is an extension of this educational thrust on our creole culture.
According to him, cadence-lypso laid a creole linguistic foundation for the evolution of other genres of creole music.
“Simply put, the main objective of this month of activities is really educational, to make people, especially the younger generation, more aware of the cadence-lypso phenomenon, the history, the consequences, the impact, and all of that. And also, to use this month to focus on genre, focus on the impact of evolution, and what is happening now and what will happen in the future…so all these elements will be explored in the various programs and activities in the weeks ahead,” Rabess made known.
Manager of DBS, Cecil Joseph, one of the headline partners vowed to continue with this initiative on an annual basis and assist with ensuring this event be added to Dominica’s annual calendar of activities.
The company has also pledged over $10,300 for the month of July in promotions and information to the general public on the cadence genre.
Other collaborator’s comments came from Gordon Henderson who was the leader and founder of Exile One, and the one who coined the term cadence-lypso, Dion Henderson, and CEO of Discover Dominica Authority (DDA) who al poured praise on the organizers for the conceptualization of this month of activities.
The Programme of activities for the month will include a panel discussion on July 09, at the University of the West Indies (UWI) open campus moderated by the lady of song, Ophelia Marie. Week two -July 16- will include a panel discussion and cocktail at the Alliance Francaise moderated by Delia Cuffy.
On July 23, Tim Durand will moderate another panel discussion at the UWI open campus on several topics while in week four -July 30- Gregory Rabess will bring an end to the month of activities with the final panel discussion and cocktail once again at the Alliance Francaise.
All of the discussions are scheduled to take place from 8:00 pm.