The ambassador of Guyanese music celebrates her 60th career this Wednesday, December 4 at Zéphyr, at 8 p.m. Just before delighting the public Sylviane Cédia will attend a ceremony full of emotion: the CTG has chosen to give its name to the Cayenne performance hall.
Sixty years ago, a little girl sang her first notes during a radio show in Saint-Laurent du Maroni. Sylviane Cédia was then 9 years old. “I remember I was so scared that I stopped singing and started dancing. Afterwards, I was ashamed to go out in the city, but my friends told me “you're good”. In any case, I got my reward: a share of bedegwèl. I still remember the good cinnamon and nutmeg taste of the cake. »
Since this first performance, Sylvia Cédia has accumulated prizes and awards. So much so that she loses count a little. “There are perhaps 59, delivered to Guyana, Africa, the West Indies, Reunion, New Caledonia, France…” But on Wednesday, the one she will receive before her birthday concert, must go to her heart. The Territorial Community of Guyana chose to honor him by giving his name to the Zéphyr room. The public will now be able to go to the Zéphyr, the Sylviane Cédia performance hall. “It’s a tremendous recognition, even in my dream I couldn’t have imagined this. It gives me a lot of joy, but I also feel a little more pressure. I always get nervous before meeting my audience, but in this room, it's even stronger. »
From her childhood in Maripasoula, then in Saint-Laurent, and finally in Cayenne, Sylviane Cédia has retained a certain sweetness and sounds that inspired her during her career: “the sound of the canoes passing by, the sound of the rain, the lapping of the water when you fish… When you grow up in all that, you are full of musicality, you are creative. »
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©Nolan'n Antoinette (intern)
Sylviane Cédia would talk about her inspirations for hours. We would be tempted to summarize them in two words: “nature and love”. In recent years, we could add the word “transmission”. Indeed, if she likes to point out that her hits make all generations dance and dream, Sylviane Cédia has worked, particularly over the last 20 years, to sing with and for the youngest. We thus remember performances for schools, already at the Zéphyr. “I also remember the day when DJ Pyromane asked me to come to one of his parties in the Paris region. There were lots of young people. Besides, I often meet the children of my former classmates. »
The most important thing is human qualities
When asked to take a look in the rearview mirror, it is also this youth that Sylvianne Cédia thinks of. “If I had to do anything again, it would be to go to that transmission earlier. It's always difficult to give advice… But if I had to give one to a young artist, it would be to respect yourself, to respect others, to be rigorous and to learn the musical basics. The most important thing is human qualities: he must know how to take stock of himself to be exactly what he announces. »
Concert: Sylviane Cédia at Zéphyr, Wednesday December 4 at 8 p.m. at Zéphyr, in Cayenne
