JAMAICA’S cultural offerings in the performing arts were on full display with the staging of the annual showcase Mello Go Roun on Tuesday night.

Some of the top performers from the festival of the performing arts, organised by the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC), took to the stage at the Independence Village at the Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre in the Corporate Area.

A full house inside the venue was given the customary mixed bag of performances, which were of a very high standard and came from traditional folk forms, dance, music, speech and drama.

In the presence of culture minister Lisa Hanna, the performers which were drawn from across the island, displayed why they were some of the top entrants in this year’s festival of the arts.

Colour and spectacle filled the stage with presentations from Kingston Cultural Group’s offering of Dinki Mini; Kumina from Artistry in Motion from Trelawny; Retreat Primary and Junion High School with Maypole and Jump and Celebrate from Ardenne High School.

But, of the dance presentations, it was the quadrille featuring eight tots from the Lida Palace Nursery and Education Limited in St James which brought the audience alive. The youngsters went through their paces with the camp-style presentation of the traditional dance. The audience fell in love with their innocence and the seriousness with which they demonstrated their art.

The speech presentations were no less entertaining.

From the battle of the sexes from Harrison’s Preparatory School with Girls vs Boys to Jae-Dan Hurge’s Go Good. Patroy Vernon with Church Bangarang had the audience in stitches as did the duo Dredz with House Fi Live Inna and the all-male ensemble from the Manning’s Performing Arts Society with Hand Cart.

The standout performance in music was young piano prodigy Joseph Davis from St James. He effortlessly tickled the ivories delivering a solid performance of Mendelssohn’s Rondo Capriccioso.

The evening’s most engaging presentation came from the John Rollins Success Primary School from St James.

Their drama Why Me? told the story of members of a family struggling to accept a young street boy who has AIDS.

The believeable acting from the juniors had members of the audience applauding as they delivered lines and engrossed in the plot unfolding on stage.

Mello Go Roun 2015 was yet another strong showing by the JCDC and continues to be a go-to event from the season.