SUNDAY, MAY 05, 2024
Dolcy D’Cruz
The 37th World Youth Day was observed this month in Lisbon, Portugal, with the theme ‘Mary Arose with haste.’ A total of 354,000 pilgrims registered for World Youth Day including Goans who are living in Goa as well as in different countries across the world. For the first time in the history of the UK Goan Chaplaincy, thirty-three Goans residing in London, including two priests, participated in World Youth Day including many members of the World Youth Dance Crew. The World Youth Dance Crew (WYDC), are a group of dancers dedicated to offering their talents to the Glory of the Lord and His Church. Through various expressions of dance, they aim to collaborate with Catholic dance crews and Gospel bands across the globe.
Leader of the World Youth Dance Crew, Melrick John Fernandes is originally from Reis Magos. Now based in UK, he was instrumental in choreographing the dance moves for the group. “Our journey started in 2019 at the last World Youth Day in Panama. We met youth like us who are interested in dancing for the Lord. Since then, we have been connecting with youth from different parts of the world who like to dance for the Lord. Following this, we were selected and invited to perform for World Youth Day as well. Our dance team is just four and a half years old and it started by dancing in local parishes in the UAE. A dance cover of the World Youth Day went viral and the next thing we knew, was that we were performing in front of the Pope. We noticed that there was no platform for dancers in the Catholic church, so we jumped out to create one from different countries and been blessed with our spiritual director, Fr Martin Esguerra based in USA. Our focus after World Youth Day is to grow a team in the UK and hopefully, in the long run, have dance schools teaching worship dance all around the world,” says Melrick.
Sydelle Varella from Uxbridge, London, and hailing from St Estevam and Caranzalem says, “The mission of the World Youth Dance Crew (WYDC) involves bringing the Catholic youth together through dance by evangelising and sharing the joy of the Lord. World Youth Day in Portugal served to highlight this mission. The World Youth Dance Crew were the official dance partners of the Gaia GodTellers Festival, which was part of the official programme for the days in the Diocese of Porto. The WYDC also performed at festivals held at different locations in Lisbon. We performed alongside various Catholic artists and bands such as The Sun, Missionário Shalom, Joe Melendrez, and Communion etc.”
She further adds, “Performing at the World Youth Day in Portugal was such an exhilarating experience as we got to witness youth from all over the world join us in dancing. The energy and enthusiasm of the youth and other pilgrims in the audience was simply incredible. This was my first World Youth Day as a member of the World Youth Dance Crew, and I will forever cherish all the experiences and memories that I experienced during World Youth Day. I am looking forward to the next World Youth Day which will be held in Seoul, South Korea in 2027.”
There are 60 members in 12 different countries, and World Youth Dance Crew are still looking for youth who are interested in dancing. No formal training is required. Currently, there are members in Panama, Nigeria, UAE, Canada, USA, Bahamas, India, Indonesia, Ireland, France, Poland and UK. Stafney Fernandes from London and Velsao in Goa says, “It was definitely a blessing to see our work being appreciated and loved by many nationalities. Keeping all prejudices aside, made us feel humble, loved and moreover, motivated to do more. Before Portugal, we never met each other in person. We used social media to connect and we had a bag full of choreographies of all the dance covers we had done for many religious artists. That was put to good use.”
Excited for the next big performance in Goa, Dubai-based Grizell DeSouza, who is originally from Saligao says, “We will be performing with Fr Rob Galea in Goa on September 9 at Pilar. It will definitely be a joy to meet youth in Goa and showcase that there is a joy in dancing for the Lord, which no money can buy.”
