IBA Adds Spice to Caribbean Festival
Cary, NC – Salsa Dancers from International Ballet Academy (IBA) added some new spice to the third annual Cary Caribbean Festival last Saturday, Sept 24. Dancers in the photo are Thalia Hernandez and Xavier Nunez.
This 3rd annual festival was held at the Herb Young Community Center in Downtown Cary. It featured food, activities for the children, dancing, handcrafts and cultural information.
Cary’s Caribbean Festival was co-sponsored by the Town of Cary and the Asociatcion de Peurtorriquenos Unidos de NC.
This is the first year the ballet academy participated in the festival. IBA’s artistic director Miguel Campanera specially choreographed a salsa dance en pointe that will become part of their repertoire for the winter performance in December at NC State’s Thompson Hall.
Our family’s first visit to the Caribbean Festival met with mixed reviews. The entertainment was outstanding, both in performance level and in the variety. We were disappointed, however, by the few food choices and by the indifference we encountered with many of the vendors. We have visited many of the countries represented by the festival and were interested in learning more about them, but, in many cases, were ignored or greeted with disinterest by the vendors.
This experience was in sharp contrast to our visit the prior weekend to the Turkish Festival which was held in the Cary Arts Center. Here, we encountered delightful entertainment, a variety of delicious food and many friendly folks who were eager to help us learn more about their country. (Note: admission was charged for this event.)
We hope that both of these festivals flourish through time, and I particularly wish that the planners of the Caribbean Festival re-evaluate their event in light of our and other peoples’ comments.