Way before the Garifuna All-Stars or Umalali there was the Ugandani
Dance Group. Noemi Flores formed the group in 1986 and for 20 years the Ugandani
dancers and drummers crisscrossed Europe and Asia as ambassadors of Garifuna
dance and music. But Ugandani fell off the radar after its 2003 performance
in Japan. The members moved away, fell out of touch, and that brought an end
to the drum beat. But the news tonight is that 30 members of the original group
have reunited and will perform together for the first time in a long while on
Saturday night at the Bliss Center. It is a much anticipated reunion concert
and today we spoke to the group’s director Mathew Martinez and got a preview.
Mathew Martinez, Director
“The title of the show is ‘We are meeting again’ or we
are reuniting and the major purpose of this show is for us to bring all, as
much as possible the old members, of Ugandani together as well as the current 
members. So we are starting from 1986 since our inception to 2009.
The show will feature traditional Garifuna music and dance as well as drumming
and singing. We also have for the show, a highlight of the show is the Wanagra
and that will be done by some children, some young boys from Belize City.
It is not only a reunion concert, it is also to reorganize the group itself
because the group has been a little dormant for about three to four years, about
four or five years, and we believe that Ugandani is a very strong group and
it is a group that educates the general public and uplifts the Garifuna culture
here in Belize City because most of us are originally from different parts of
the country.
It will be a spectacular show, an action packed show, nothing to miss and
it is only $10 per person and I can assure you that after you pay that $10 you
will even want to give us more contribution for the performance itself because
it will be very very well put together.”
You can see the group performing live on Saturday night at the bliss.
Tickets will be available at the door.
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