Gowns were terrible, décor was dull
Stabroek News
April 28, 2002
Dear Editor,
Reference is made to JA Joseph’s letter captioned “Miss Guyana Pageant was a disappointment” [ please note: link provided by LOSP web site ] (19.4.2002). I thought I was reading the letter I was thinking of writing. In the circumstances, I could not agree more. Indeed, Ms Joseph left me with very few other adjectives to describe the “gowns” worn by the contestants other than to add that these were ill-fitting, lacked imagination, creativity, style and class. To make matters worse, the choice of colours was all wrong and did nothing to complement the complexion of the wearer. In sum, with the exception of possibly four, these “gowns” were simply ugly and had no place at a pageant. As a matter of fact Delegate Number 20 (the one who wore the dress with one sleeve and a round neck) should have been given an award for bravery beyond the call of duty. How could one woman be so cruel to another?
The stage décor for the event was both dull and boring. I could not figure out why an Amerindian brother was put to stand with arrow and bow (centre back of stage) for the entire show. In retrospect, he was probably there to slay the ‘designers’ if they dared to venture on to the stage. At least in this one instance the ‘designers’ showed good sense.
The ‘speech’ by the Patron was totally out of place for the occasion (it might have been useful at another forum). Well, for Mr Odinga, it was his show and hearing from him was inevitable.
Some of the dances looked like the early stage of rehearsal. The costumes of the Indian dancers were a disgrace. I am sure the Indian women who arrived here on May 5, 1838 on the Whitby and Hesperus looked more attractive than these dancers. At least they would have been wearing some form of Indian dress rather than those silly skirts and blouses worn by the pageant’s ‘Indian’ dancers.
Having said all that, I am not ‘knocking’ Mr Odinga. I guess he did the best he could. Maybe it was the designers of the ‘gowns’, costumes, stage and choreographers who let him down. But really, I think, a pageant should be a more glitzy affair after than a jungle scene. What really tickled me, though, is that Odinga compared his show to that of Donald Trump’s.
Yours faithfully,
J. Alves