Children's dance school La Danse Caraibe, led by master choreographer Heather Henderson-Gordon, presented its theatrical dance production titled Spooked last week at Queen's Hall.
Henderson-Gordon was trained in dance at the Juilliard School, the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Centre before establishing her dance school in 1986.
La Danse Caraibe, which is based at Luis Street in Woodbrook, Port-of-Spain, specialises in various dance styles including ballet, modern, tap, folk, hip hop and limbo. All students are encouraged to practise a minimum of three dance styles and students begin from as young as three.
In 2010 La Danse Caraibe celebrated its 25th anniversary with a production titled Our Identity 2010. This year, the school's dance show took the form of a play. The dramatic production centred on a young girl named Precilla who finds herself lost in a forest where she encounters many terrifying folklore and traditional mas characters. These included blue devils, black devils, the la diablesse, dame lorraines and jamettes.
Choreographers included Arlene Frank (modern), Candice Ellis (tap), Gregor Breedy (folk), Takyha Springer (hip hop) and Nydia Byron (limbo). On both nights, patrons were thrilled by the flaming limbo performance in which dancers portrayed menacing black devils. Another memorable performance was that of the blue devils, which featured the school's most senior dancers. The dance was called The Darkest Den and followed Precilla being tormented by the blue creatures who instructed her to pay them if she wished to remain unharmed.
Though the majority of La Danse Caraibe's performers are female, the show featured three male dancers-Simeon Peters, Michael Mortley and Tevin Nyse. La Danse Caraibe hosts its dance show every two years at the Queen's Hall.
