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Steelpan ,
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PATHMARK Date: 06.14.05 Brooklyn, New York - For the third year in a row, Pan played a major role in the annual Multicultural Festival hosted by supermarket giant Pathmark. New York's own Women In Steel, Pantonic Steel Orchestra and Pan Ambassadors joined other performers in the annual festival which heads to various areas where the supermarket giant has service locations. In addition to their generous traditional outreaches via their corporation pipeline, Pathmark pointedly makes community involvement their watchwords, paying special attention and tribute to the diverse and respective cultures in the communities. This past Sunday at the King's Plaza shopping mall in the Flatbush area of Brooklyn, it was the turn of the Caribbean community to enjoy the multicultural festival experience which has become a staple in the mall's summer calendar of activities. Around 1:35 PM hostess Colette Baptiste welcomed mall shoppers and other onlookers to the afternoon's events. Many determined members of the audience staked out their seats on the steps rising to the second level of the mall, directly in front of the stage, and did not move for the entire show.
Ebonč Roots Dance & Drum Theater opened up the show with an earthy drum recital, highlighting the talents of their players; the youngest - who stole the heart of the crowd - was a mere three years old. The dancers alternated with the drummers and earned appreciative applause.
Pantonic Steel Orchestra was second on the program and treated the audience to a sterling performance with a repertoire that struck extremely favorable chords with all present. Selection after selection brought out more and more people on the second tier of the mall, as the steps were already filled, leaving scant room for those who wanted to move about. Above, on the balconies overlooking the stage area on the ground floor, a type of catch-it-if-you-can scenario was ongoing, as people kept eagle eyes out for spots being vacated by others, immediately darting in triumphantly to take up good vantage points to the pan performance.
Pantonic wrapped up almost one hour of pan music to the sound of lusty applause. A member of the audience was heard saying simply "awesome!" A special crowd favorite was the Shania Twain smash "You're Still The One" which will be on Pantonic's forthcoming CD. This will be the third in the series of CDs from the band. The Something Positive ensemble focusing on dance presentations followed Pantonic. The second of the three steel orchestras to perform at the festival was Pan Ambassadors. The audience was able to enjoy no less than five hours of great family entertainment. It was not only those of Caribbean heritage who were present. Visitors and shoppers from the community as a whole paused periodically as they discovered the event, taking in different segments of the show, before moving on again.
Women In Steel was the third and final pan ensemble to take the stage. This time, the hostess Colette Baptiste did double duty. As a member of Women In Steel, the versatile young woman was on bass in the pan ensemble, after introducing the band, and also kept the audience in step with the selections from their repertoire. Their trademark "Woman Is Boss" kicked off their set. Since an all-woman band is still a novelty for many, the young women drew more than just their fair share of admirers of their prowess on steelpan. They were the last performers of the show, and by then huge crowds were in attendance, soaking in every note that the group played.
One difference in this year's event was the absence of
'freebies' compliments the various sponsors who were on hand at past festivals.
They would each present a happy john public with samples of their products,
culinary and otherwise. Last year General Motors was present with the
opportunity for some lucky person to win a car. Hopefully Pathmark will organize
the sponsors' presence as part of next year's multicultural festival. But once
again, the supermarket giant itself has taken time out to give back to the
Flatbush area community, to the pleasure of those present at King's Plaza on
Sunday.
By
CP - Basement Press Release Writer Click To See More Pictures and Slide Show
A GSMN Report |
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