Lessons from Jamaican No-Maddz

I decided, although we were very busy at Carifesta, that I had to see some of the performances out of Jamaica. Jamaica is, for all practical purposes, the mecca of the performing arts in the Caribbean and there was no way I was going to leave Suriname without seeing them perform.
 I was able to attend two of the performances, and though my group of lovely young people was tired, I decided they all had to go, and so we boarded the bus provided for us by Carifesta and went to see the Jamaica group No-Maddz at the CCS Theatre.
 They started late because of technical difficulties, but soon the hall was filled, and the young men did their two or so hours performance of real mad but beautiful, comical, and yet deathly serous social commentary in song, interspersed with mad, mad comedy.
The No-Maddz used every and anything as an instrument, from old boxes to coconut graters; contorted their bodies into all sorts of positions, spun, pranced and sprinted across the stage, dressed and undressed before the audience, turned guitars into guns, and sang songs of police brutality, poverty and absolute social chaos.
 I bought their cd, because I needed to get the stories told in their songs a little clearer than I was able to that night-hard Jamaican accent and all-.
 But I learned a few things, and some things were confirmed for me. You see I live in a part of the world where people are quick to dismiss aspects of the performing arts as bare rubbish. The No-Maddz had a short skit spliced into their performance, in which they showed how some snobbish people in Jamaica may have criticized the Ministry of Culture there for sending the No-Maddz, The No-madz--- of all the outstanding performing groups in Jamaica- to Carifesta. I could think of a few people on my own island who would have protested their going too, but I came away from that show happy that these young Caribbean men were simply having fun while taking positive messages in their unique style, to the rest of world This is what I see when I am in the presence of young people, or anyone for that matter, in the performing arts. I label nothing  nonsense. I dismiss no work of art, and I go to these events looking for things to appreciate. I hope to remain like this no matters how trained, exposed, expert and experienced I become.
I am certain that everyone in the audience was not pleased, especially when a few of the performers came running through the audience wearing no more than underwear and vest.
 Art is like a buffet dinner, if you don't like the food, then you don't eat, but I learned not to label other people's work as no more than rubbish.