Dancin’s destiny

If Jennifer Sealy had to live her life all over again, she would keep dancing on its path.Sealy, 53, was so in love with dance as a little girl growing up in the countryside that she was determined to be involved in the art form – despite her circumstances. And 18 years ago, she, along with some of her peers,Because of her undying love for dance and her strong determination, Sealy came together with some of her peers 18 years ago and formed the group Dancin Africa.Today she speaks of some of the group’s successes and their journey over the years. She said Dancin Africa was formed to give young people the opportunity that she did not have as a child and to help them develop their personal and social skills. Sealy said to date, she is very happy with the group’s achievements but noted that it was hard at first.“We began at Passage Road Pavilion. That is our base. Our biggest catchment areas then would have been Baxters Road, Westbury Road, Bank Hall and Bush Hall and their environs. Our directors worked really hard to forge the kind of relationship on which the group continues to stand and be strengthened. It was hard because we had to create a niche for our dancers. The NCF is presently our home for seniors and juniors,” said the artistic director.She said over the years, the group continued to do a lot of work that was not just about entertainment but also to educate, empower, uplift young people and create awareness.Sealy has been a teacher for the past 36 years and at the time of the group’s formation, she was a teacher at the Erdiston Primary School where she also introduced the art form. She is currently a senior teacher at the Bay Primary School.Sealy did professional training in drama, studying at the New York University (NYU) where she got a masters in educational theatre. But not before studying at the then Christ Church Foundation Girls school, Erdiston Teachers training college and UWI.This educator said her personal motto was “integrity and fairness”.“Our slogan is, Diaspora Arise. So out of a slogan like that, that will tell you that our mission is to showcase the work of the African Diaspora not just locally or regionally but internationally. So that is why we would do a range of work,” said Sealy.“The journey of our group has seen growth. When we began we were mainly an adult core with fifteen members, varying sizes, ages and abilities. I was in my 30s when we created this group. And out of those fifteen members some of us had children and they created the first ever children’s group. As soon as we were created we went straight to NIFCA. We started out with hotel work in 1992 at the Mango Bay hotel and also the Bougainvillea hotel,” remembered Sealy.Since its formation in 1992, Dancin Africa has been entering various competitions and winning numerous medals and awards. Over the years, the group would have also done representations of Barbados and entered competitions in other countries such as St Vincent, French Guyana, St Lucia, Trinidad, Grenada among others.According to Sealy, perhaps one of the biggest achievements of the group was when two of its members were awarded scholarships.“We have two Madam Ifill awards, one in 1993 and the other in 1999 and they are through the hard work of Gene Carson. Over the years as well we have had through NIFCA, two scholarships. The very first scholarship in dance went to Susan Watts and we are proud of that achievement… and then we had another scholarship given to Keisha Amory,” recalled the Small Town, St John resident.Sealy has a brother who is her twin and one younger sister. She is the mother of one child, Toni Thorne, who is also involved in various aspects of the arts.“We are one big artistic family. My mom is responsible for supporting us in the arts. She is a pioneer. She received a Crop-Over stalwart award last year. So my mom would have supported us, pushed us and encouraged us,” said Sealy.She told Easy about some of the groups most memorable moments.“One of the phases that really impacted on us was when The Bold and the Beautiful was filmed here. I think our street theatre events also and NIFCA of course. There is nothing like the adrenaline. I think our group loves preparing for NIFCA. We love the NIFCA season. It is a real high point for us,” reminisced Sealy.The group which is predominantly females, currently consists of over 70 members. Sealy said her motivation over the years was from the fact that she just loved dance.The group which consist of tiers; beginners children’s group, children’s group, junior company, senior apprentices and the company, will be attending the World Expo in Shanghai, China.“We are looking at our indigenous elements such as the land ship, calypso dances, folk traditions and then we understand the importance of also complementing Rihanna’s work and we will do a piece on how we worship in Barbados. The whole idea is to showcase Barbados. Although we are really busy preparing for the China expo we are still going to do NIFCA. I foresee we are going to be working on a piece while we are in China,” said Sealy enthusiastically.Sealy said she would “like to do more for male dancers”. She said male dancers were in such high demand that when they trained with the group they would often times move on to other areas.She shared some advice.“I think that young people need to be true to self. I believe that we need to get back to the basics and the basics begin with church. Parents need to teach their children about God. They need to understand the principles of integrity, individualism, the importance of being oneself and the importance of being unafraid to be the only person doing the right thing. And I believe that young people need to be educated… They need to be educated in the area they are strongest in,” advised Sealy.Over the years, Dancin Africa has experienced its share of challenges.“We have had our struggles. We struggle up to now. Our challenges have been no having our own space. We have to pay rent. Space is one and we would love to have a subvention from somebody to pay for our classes. We would love corporate Barbados to come on board to offer something that could help. We need out own space and we need a subvention and then we would hardly be challenged,” pleaded Sealy.