The music, the message and, of course, the
children are the emphasis and the gift of this event. St Ailbe
Children’s performance of “Let the children be heard”
had all the youthful energy you can imagine, the
kind that brings you up out of the pew to dance in the aisles and
sing along. The program opened as the St Ailbe Youth Band
impressively marched into the Church... down the isles...
with the drummers playing. They were dressed in elaborately
decorated drum-line-styled uniforms. The band played several musical pieces. The
Adult Musical Ensemble joined in with one really swinging
tune, by Robert Murphy entitled "Bob's
Blues".
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St Ailbe Youth Band
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St Ailbe Youth Band
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St Ailbe Youth Band
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St Ailbe Youth Band
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The St Ailbe Children's Choir swayed and rocked to the
beat as they sang up-beat rhythmic gospel songs. The excitement of these young people in live
performances shined through, as does the spirit and talent of
their young strong melodic voices. This was an exceptionally great
performance by an exceptional choir!, under the direction of Robert Murphy, formally of the Staple
Singers.
The
Children's Choir and the many soloist captivated the hearts of the audience with their
voices as they received standing ovation…
after standing ovation…
The
St. Ailbe Children’s Choir
is known
to be the best
children's choir ever heard on the Southside of
Chicago!!
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St. Ailbe Children's
Choir
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St. Ailbe Children's
Choir
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Robert
Murphy
Director of Children's Choir and Band
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The
African Dancers were beautifully costumed in brightly colored
Afro-centric wear. Under
the direction of Harry Detry of the Muntu Dancers of Chicago, the St Ailbe Dance
Ensemble performed an original interpretation of an ancient
African dance, accompanied by Baba Atiba on the congo drums.
The dancers rapidly moved their arms, legs up and down in a
weaving syncopated motion. In
African Dance every movement has its own meaning. The younger
dancers began to leave and then the slightly older dancers were joined and
led in an ancient folklore dance by a professional Mask Dancer and a
Dancer on a one-legged-six-foot-stilt, the performance was spectacular.
The stilted dancer appeared to be a mile-high-tall as he danced on the
one stilt and without missing a beat, he would suddenly fall
all-the-way-down to the floor roll over and
come back up on the stilt. It was an unbelievable performance and something
everyone should see at least once in their lifetime. The Mask
Dancers are found in Africa, South America and Melanesia.
Traditionally, families and clans own the masks and costumes.
Ceremonial dances are performed for those who wish to count their blessing
and ask for help and protection .
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St. Ailbe African Dancers
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St. Ailbe African Dancers
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St. Ailbe Children's
Choir
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Professional Mask Dancer
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Professional Mask Dancer
Baba Atiba on the congo
drums
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Professional Mask Dancer
Baba Atiba on the congo
drums
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Dancer on a one-legged-six-foot-stilt
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Dancer on a one-legged-six-foot-stilt
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St. Ailbe Youth for Christ volunteered their Sunday afternoon to
assist where needed. They helped usher the young, the old, and
those in-between and they carried the offertory baskets. They wore
bright red t-shirts
that said “God is the # 1 Key to life”. It is always wonderful to see our young people doing great things
and giving of themselves.
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St. Ailbe Youth For Christ
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Father John Breslin,
Pastor
of St. Ailbe Church
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Sister
Kathryn Hartnett
Special
Thanks goes to Father John Breslin, Pastor
of St. Ailbe and Sister
Kathryn Hartnett for their
continued participation
and support. |
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Sporty
King was the Opening Master of Ceremonies. He did a marvelous job during intermission breaks
of keeping the audience spirits uplifted,
with his common-sense delightful thoughts and
phrases. He is a well known inspirational speaker who has developed
the unique skill of using poetry and ordinary words to create
positive analogies for everyday living.
Wherever the children are.
you will see Bonita Chapman.
She is the Assistant Director of the Children's Choir and
she orchestrated and organized this entire
event. We thank her for
all the hard work it took to put these outstanding
performances together. She loves working with young
people and we love her for sharing her gifts with
the children of St. Ailbe parish.
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Bonita Chapman
Assistant Director of Music
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Sporty
King
Inspirational Speaker
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