Athenia Henderson knows how to perform, to entertain and to take an audience along on a journey to pure entertainment bliss.
The former Swinging Stars singer and back up vocalist, who has shared the stage with some of the best, is set to take her delicious blend of Caribbean-infused pop music to one of the most chic Dominican events in the northeastern United States.
Henderson and her band DNA’s Music Entertainment will be a leading act at the Association of Dominicans in the Northeast USA (ADNExUS) cultural awards gala in New Jersey later this month, a charity fund-raising event for educational, medical and business development in Dominica.
“Athenia has the sort of energy that typifies the true Dominican and Caribbean spirit, and along with her band DNA’s Music Entertainment, she has the ability to lift an event to incredible highs, yet stay within professional boundaries. Our patrons will be pleased that she will be an integral piece of a perfect night,” says ADNExUS president Sylma Brown.
DNA’s Music Entertainment is a versatile band with an extensive Top 40 repertoire, featuring power vocals and sweet steelpan by Athenia with Devon Atherley from Trinidad and Tobago, who has earned the title, Steel-Pan Maestro.
In keeping with the calibre of the event, which takes place on Saturday 23 September at the attractive Woman’s Club in Upper Montclair, New Jersey, the 2015 Jaycees Caribbean queen Sharissa Ryan will also perform a piece on the violin.
Sharissa, who was born in Montserrat to Dominican and Montserratian parents, has intertwined music and pageantry in her life from an early age.
The 25-year-old has been playing the violin since the age of eight and has performed at the prestigious Lincoln Centre for Performing Arts in New York as a member of the Fox Lane High School Orchestra.
She was the 2014 Miss Montserrat Festival queen and the 2015 Miss Jaycees International queen.
“Sharissa’s participation in the gala is testimony to the diverse, high quality and wholesome talents we possess as Dominicans and Caribbean nationals, and our willingness to make a contribution, in whatever way we can, to the development of our people,” Ms. Brown says.
The highly versatile and dedicated Know Your Culture Dance Troupe and the incomparable DJ Bolo – along with a parade of traditional creole wear with Aileen Burton – will also be part of the entertainment at the event, at which the retired cultural officer with the division of culture, Pearle Christian, will be presented with the prestigious ADNExUS Legends Award, the second person ever to receive this award, the first being music pioneer Gordon Henderson who was honoured last year.
The 5th Annual Dominica Cultural Awards Gala is supported by Secret Bay Hotel, Discover Dominica Authority, SF Pathway and Delta Air Lines and is a collaboration with the Dominica United Cricket Club, Know Your Culture Dance Troupe, the North American Association for the Advancement of La Plaine and the Northeast USA Wesley Chapter.
The Association of Dominicans in the Northeast USA achieved 501c3 and 509a2 status in 2014. The Association exists to foster the development and execution of cultural, educational and community programs that connect Dominicans in the Northeast USA with Dominicans at home.
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