The Ugandani Dance Group, which preceded the Garifuna All-Stars and Umalali in the international stage but later disbanded, reunited for a performance last Saturday night at the Bliss Center in Belize City. Noemi Flores formed the group in 1986 and for 20 years the Ugandani dancers and drummers crisscrossed Europe and Asia as ambassadors of Garifuna dance and music. But Ugandani fell off the radar after its 2003 performance in Japan. The members moved away, fell out of touch, and that brought an end to the drum beat. But 30 members of the original group have reunited and performed together for the first time in a long this weekend.
In an interview before the concert, Mathew Martinez, the group’s director, said that “the title of the show is ‘We are meeting again’ or we are reuniting and the major purpose of this show is for us to bring all, as much as possible the old members, of Ugandani together as well as the current members. So we are starting from 1986 since our inception to 2009.
The show will feature traditional Garifuna music and dance as well as drumming and singing. We also have for the show, a highlight of the show is the Wanagra and that will be done by some children, some young boys from Belize City. It is not only a reunion concert, it is also to reorganize the group itself because the group has been a little dormant for about three to four years, about four or five years, and we believe that Ugandani is a very strong group and it is a group that educates the general public and uplifts the Garifuna culture here in Belize City because most of us are originally from different parts of the country.
Susan Mayclin Stephenson’ painting Garifuna Dancers and Musicians, Roatan, Honduras at http://www.michaelolaf.net/susanartOPM.html
