Praise Academy of Dance complaint against NIFCA disqualification dismissed

The arbiter for competitions produced by the National Cultural Foundation (NCF) is backing the agency in its decision to disqualify a National Independence Festival of Creative Arts (NIFCA) entry by Praise Academy of Dance adjudged to have “exceeded the bound of good taste”.

In a statement issued late Friday, the NCF said Senator Gregory Nicholls had ruled against the arts school in the complaint it brought against the cultural agency.

Praise Academy of Dance entered two performances in this year’s NIFCA performing arts competition, one of which was disqualified by the presiding panel of judges. The theatrical production at the centre of the controversy, Speak Life, was one about a 15-year-old girl who is struggling with gender identity and finds her identity in God. After it was disqualified, the principals of the group lodged a complaint with the arbiter, as provided for in the competition rules of NIFCA.

In the ruling, dated November 17th and disseminated to both parties, Senator Nicholls said his decision is that “there is no basis to interfere with the prior decision of the judges of the entry Speak Life which was disqualified under rule 9B of the NIFCA rules”.

“The rationale for my decision to dismiss the complaint is that the NIFCA judges are experienced practitioners in their respective fields and are carefully chosen by NCF to judge in its competitions. The judges determined that the entry was in breach of the rules, more specifically, in that it exceeded the bounds of good taste. The entry was adjudged to have denounced various gender identities of the LGBTQ community via raging characterisations and expressions. This was a determination that the experienced panel of judges were entitled to make.” 

The ruling added: “The rules in question have been in place for many years and the complainant has entered NIFCA under the said rules. This demonstrates that the complainant agreed to the rules of the competition and to abide by the same.”

Praise Academy of Dance, which received more than 55 NIFCA medals, had challenged the initial ruling, saying it was unclear what exactly in the production had contravened the rules.

Artistic Director Marcia Weekes has expressed concern that disqualification by the NIFCA panel of judges “may impact, if left unchecked, how we in Barbados and the Caribbean express our faith on issues of gender and sexuality in the future”.
(BT)