Amid election cynicism, everything is right on this one night in Burlington.
Community Living’s talent show cuts through the fog of election campaign cynicism.
Jeremy Goode, Emily Arbic and Ashmit Pal celebrate their winning performances at the Burlington Performing Arts Centre following Community Living’s Got Talent Saturday Sept. 21. - Snapd Burlington , Jodi Carr.
Judges (left to right) River Christie-White, Pat Leyland, Connie Smith, Amber Armstrong and Sarah Lisi compare notes backstage at Community Living Burlington’s Got Talent. - Snapd Burlington, Jodi Carr.
It was a welcome reprieve from this depressingly frustrating federal election campaign that's seeing politicians and pundits alike fighting for attention in such desperate, oh so transparent and — thanks often to social media — somewhat twisted attempts to get our votes. So I hope this little story gives you reason to have hope and smile.
The Burlington Performing Arts Centre exploded in unbridled joy and jubilation on this Saturday night in September, after the performances of a lifetime for a group of entertainers I must call my newest heroes, competing in Community Living Burlington's Got Talent #YESWEDO.
I meet up with my fellow judges backstage. River is last's year's grand prize winner who blew us away with his traditional hoop dancing which he performs to raise awareness for Autism, inclusion and diversity. He is one of the most well-spoken and insightful young men I have ever met. Sarah, a rhythmic gymnast, is also a former talent show contestant who won seven medals, most of them gold, at this year's Special Olympics in Abu Dhabi. She returned to Burlington to a hero's welcome.
Before the show, the excitement backstage is as electric as the costumes, from Bollywood gowns, to traditional Indigenous robes and headdress. We find ballerina Emily, a vision in flowing white, stretched out on the floor in splits, preparing for her number. Emily graduated with honours this spring from Conestoga College's Early Childhood Education program. Her stage presence is so engaging you can't help but smile in wonder and her dancing exquisite.
I could have been in Carnegie Hall listening to 12 -year-old Ashmit on piano segueing effortlessly and elegantly from "Classical Sonatina in D Major" to Billy Joel's "Piano Man." His manners and poise are incomparable. Ashmit has received numerous Royal Conservatory of Music awards and scholarships and wants to teach in his own studio one day after he masters several other instruments. Did I say he was 12?
I learn that Jeremy suffered a stroke at two months of age. As a young man today, conversations are difficult and it's hard to tell if he is even cognizant of what's happening around him but when he steps out on stage, and with a little imagination it could have been on Broadway itself, he steals the show and the grand prize performing "Les Poissons" as Chef Louie from "The Little Mermaid." Jeremy received a mark of 88 on his Royal Conservatory of Music voice exam.
At the other end of the age spectrum, Gary, over 50 and Anne, 67, partially blind and deaf, bring me to tears with their hauntingly beautiful renditions of "Green Green Grass of Home" and "You Needed Me." Anne's dream is to meet her idol, Anne Murray one day and how wonderful it would be to make that dream come true (watch for an update…).
For the judges it's a near-impossible feat to mark and rank 15 outstanding performances in all for I can honestly say for once in my life, they all get my vote!
It sounds like a cliché to say they all are winners but they are and they are not the only ones. Just to know there are individuals out there so pure of heart and intention, so authentic, inspiring and joyful in the face of their own lifelong personal struggles is a gift … a gift of hope for our often sad and downtrodden species so focused so often on everything that is wrong. For on this night everything feels right and everyone, on stage, backstage and in the audience is, indeed, a winner.
Now back to your regularly scheduled news from the election campaign trail … with a little more hope, I hope.
OPINION Oct 04, 2019 by Connie Smith - Hamilton Spectator.