by DONNA SEALY

Axioms Of Choice wasn’t only a dazzling showcase of dance. It was a celebration of rhythm, colour, history, culture and testimony.

The Dance Portfolio, staged by the Barbados Community College’s Fine Arts Division, was an examination for the four young dancers who have completed the two-year programme, but for the large audience it was a look into the future of what they are becoming and what they will bring to the dance community and to stages.

Daneal Browne, Jonia Nurse, Savannah Small and Diara Nurse stepped into the spotlight on the stage of the Frank Collymore Hall Saturday night during the three-hour show and dazzled with their movements and choreographies, taking the lessons they were taught by their tutors and telling stories with their bodies.

Credo and Paths, One Vision, the opening and closing pieces, were two of the most impactful performances. Showcasing the four young dancers in the choreographies by tutors Shama Harding and Keisha Dowridge respectively, they told the story of their shared experiences, both as individuals and a group, and their emotional and physical transformation. 

They, along with Sarah Best, also performed together in Broken Stories, Yesterday’s News which highlighted the overwhelming inner feelings and fears sometimes created by news and the events taking place.  

Browne’s solo piece Becoming in Motion which she co-choreographed with Olivia Hall captured her transition and growth and the struggle within herself and in Her Struggles, the title of her choreography executed by other dancers, she told a story of a young woman being bullied who didn’t give up but turned to God and positive people who helped her overcome that struggle.

As I Am, choreographed by the Shalom Forrester, was Small’s solo piece. The “call to surrender” and to meet Him as “just as we are” seemed personal and her movements reflected such. Her choreography Let Go was beautiful and the costumes and lighting added to the dancers’ performance. It was a call to action, to let go of the familiar, the comfortable and to “move forward into the light of God’s presence, where true freedom is found”.

Jonia’s The Calling was mesmerising as she told her story about her involvement in dance with the Pinelands Creative Workshop to learning ballet, modern and jazz techniques as well as discipline and control. The inclusion of flautist Ericka Griffith, vocalists Nadia Mitchell-Gittens and Curtis Gittens, and the percussionist combined perfectly to show the audience not only her evolution as a dancer, but the connection between the different genres while emphasizing the richness of Barbados’ folk and culture. The limbo she did was a testimony to the latter. 

The Divide was her choreography, and it depicted a conflict and reconciliation of old and young dancers within a village community aptly.

Daria’s solo piece was Where the Doubt Lived and Rooted was her choreography. Both were interesting. The first was about a journey, fraught with hesitation and self-doubt but she pressed on overcoming her internal battle to gain clarity, identity and purpose. The second as a joyful celebration of community and growth, “a rebirth of expression and renewed love for the arts”

I Am …I am ‘Oman was another delightful piece which found favour with the audience as it was the tutors, Keisha Dowridge, Jerilee Evanson-Kellman, Olivia Hall and Shama Harding, performing the Teisha Smith-Gutherie choreography.

It should be noted that first year students and other dancers were part of the showcase. Besides performing in the final year students’ choreographies, they were in the riveting The Future is Black, a John Hunte choreography described as “a structured improvisation” which featured a poem he wrote and jazz from musician Etienne Charles. It highlighted different topics such as mental health through rhythmic movements and portrayed festivity, gaiety, fun amid the negativity.

They were equally good in Frequency, an arresting piece that examined how the world changes, how different people view it and their priorities and calls to action, We Do Ballet, Rhythmic Caribbean, a vibrant celebration ode to Barbados, Trinidad and Grenada’s culture, and Breathe, which they (first year students) co-choreographed with Khristen Eastmond.

What is noteworthy is that each dance depicted exactly the programme note MC Lisa Brome read and based on the lively applause the audience loved every minute of the show. (GBM)