Soul Oasis Cultural Ambassadors was created out of discussions held among several cultural enthusiasts in 2008. They included Cary Codrington (Pan Extraordinaire), Stephen Singh (Director/Writer/Sound Engineer), Sean Singh (Drum Extraordinaire/Musical Arranger) and Mindy Giles (Dance Lecturer/Choreographer). The latter three continued on to form the group in February 2009, which was then named by Stephen Singh. At this point, Cleavand Serries came on board as the resident dance tutor/choreographer. The group’s first major works included performances at the ‘Summit of the Americas’ in April 2009 and CHOGM in November 2009. The extraordinary cultural presentations by Brian Mc Farlane required the SOCA to source over 50 dancers and drummers and prepare a piece for the world stage. Both performances received raving reviews. After such fantastic performances, the group attracted the best of Trinidad’s dances/performers. The hype was short lived however, as activities slowed to a halt until 2016. In 2016, under the stewardship of Sean Singh, SOCA was revived and its purpose and offerings were reconstructed to include singing, dancing, drumming, drama, stilt-walking and fire-breathing. The intention of the revamped SOCA is to become the premier cultural performing group not only in Trinidad and Tobago, but throughout the Caribbean and the Americas. Towards this end, technique and folk-dance classes are treated as a serious contributor to its excellence. A Junior company has also been created and classes are also ongoing so as to begin grooming the next generation of performers. The superb creativity and direction of Sean Singh has resulted in SOCA being viewed as the exceptional new company on the block. In 2016, many were astonished by the 1st time entrant’s achievements in the Prime Minister’s Best Village Competition. These winnings included 1st place Self Expression by the Queen, Best Set for a Production, 2nd place Calypso Medley, 3rd place Folk Medley, 4th place Theatre Production and 5th place La Reine Rive. The group continues to make waves in the entertainment industry include winning the prestigious title of Best Production 2018 at the Prime Minister’s Best Village Competition.
Country representing: Trinidad and Tobago
Where and how often do you rehearse?
Presently, SOCA rehearses 3 days a week at the Chinapoo Community Center Morvant creating quite unusual types of work and always striving for great quality presentations and generally high standards from its members. The company is well on its way to achieving and maintaining its goal of excellence in its various disciplines.
How would you best describe your group?
Youthful, Multitalented, Community based, Purposeful and Positive
Do you have any interesting amusing stories about the group?
There were times when preparing for showtime we had to practice in the streets in the rain to be prepared to compete at the highest level possible.
If yes Have you been to Llangollen before? Yes
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