The Department of Education yesterday staged its 14-17 years Children’s Mashramani Competition Dance Two yesterday at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall and Tutorial High School shook things up with a powerful dance.

Dance Two was organized and executed with this year’s Mashramani theme “One Dream One Celebration One Design in 2009” in mind. Almost 40 private and public schools participated in the competition which commenced at 9.30 am.

Individual students and groups performed in four categories of Legends and Tradition, Social Commen-tary, Interpretive and Religious Belief. St. Stanislaus College and Tutorial High School scored in the top three in three categories during the individual section of the competition.

Lucreatra Hubbard of North Georgetown Secondary, Andrea Benjamin of Lodge Secondary and Mwanza Glen of Tutorial High placed first, second and third in the individual Interpretive. For Social Commentary the top three were Richard Ishmael Secondary’s Kipenie Jordon, St. Joseph’s Daysha Pestano and St. Stanislaus’ Jenelle Pierre.

Lashwana Belony, North Georgetown Secondary; Tutorial High’s Glen and St. Stanislaus’ Lenecia Graham were the stars for Religious Beliefs. Meanwhile, in the top positions for Legends and Traditions were Ionas Primo of Tutorial High, Zion Hinckson of St. Stanislaus and Michelle Lynch of St. John’s Secondary.

Further, Tutorial High School also snatched first position in the Group Dancing for Legends and Tradition. The talented group of young ladies dressed in creative African-style wraps performed “Drum Explosions” which simply delighted the mostly teenage audience.

The Sports Hall was packed to capacity and many students were forced to remain outside. However, there were a few adventurous teenagers who attempted to climb over the walls to gain entry to the building. A few others attempted to gain access via the wall of the male washroom.

When Stabroek News arrived at the venue just after 1 pm the police were present and had already addressed the issue. Several students told this newspaper that it wasn’t fair that they’d gotten tickets and were unable to see the competition.

Some of the tension seeped indoors and dancing was paused for a few minutes as officials struggled to control the situation. Education Department officials who were present at the time refused to comment.

However, despite the setback the competition progressed and spirits were high among the dancers as they waited their turn to perform.

“We’re here to dance…dance and win!” A dancer from the St. Stanislaus group stated right before their performance yesterday.