Monday night’s Voices of the Underground (VOTU) served up a powerful blend of biographical storytelling, raw vulnerability and unfiltered truth delivered through stirring spoken word and poetry. The event was held at the National Cultural Centre as part of Art and the City and the Saint Lucia Jazz and Arts Festival.
Headliner Staceyann Chin – poet, actor, and performing artist – captivated the audience with piercing honesty, guiding them through an evocative journey of immigration, family, sexuality, and identity.
Her performance charted a sobering odyssey from her Jamaican upbringing, marked by a strained relationship with her mother, to her discovery and acceptance of her attraction to women, the subsequent societal shunning and violence that pushed her from Jamaica and the life she’s navigated since.
It was a breathtaking show of boldness and self-acceptance that blended tragedy and joy with fearless vulnerability. Audience reactions swung from silent awe to eruptive laughter as Chin masterfully transformed pain into poetry.
Her performance capped a night of stirring storytelling, the lead-up to which was equally powerful. Several local acts held the stage with as much intensity – each raw, vulnerable and thought-provoking.
Saint Lucian spoken word artist, poet, and essayist Khadijah Haliday delivered a quick-paced performance that laid bare her experience of girlhood and womanhood in dark skin, navigating a social landscape simmering with colourism. Self-love enveloped this performance while the audience clung to every word.
The Headphunk Collective’s Rohan “Ashé” Bennett and Adrian “N.O.T.E.S” Klein, along with Donaton, Garner Raymond, Shyne Savory, Orshan Hippolyte, Terchelle Lubin and Shani Labadie, were each uniquely captivating. They offered soulful renditions of the human experience touching on themes of identity, spirituality, manhood, and more – each infused with poetic flair and emotional depth.
Perhaps the most heartwarming moment of the night was the return of George “Fish” Alphonse to the performance floor. A cultural icon and pioneer in the spoken word space, Fish brought his signature charm and disarming candour to a piece that explored the complexities of manhood, societal expectations, relationships and selfhood. His performance earned a well-deserved standing ovation.
VOTU drew a modest crowd, which may have worked in its favour by creating an intimate and immersive atmosphere.
