In March of this year, 20-year-old dancer and choreographer Juan Pablo Alba Dennis was accepted into the Ailey School in New York to complete a bachelor’s degree in fine arts in dance. Now that some of the initial excitement has died down and planning has begun, Dennis will host a two-day concert at the beginning of next month to raise money for his studies. The show, titled For The Love of Dance, will take place at the Little Carib Theatre, Woodbrook and will feature some of Dennis’ choreography as well as performances by the Lydians, 3 Canal, Wendell Constantine and the Metamorphosis Dance Company. It’s no surprise that these established acts have thrown their support behind the young thespian.
Dennis began dancing at the age of 11 at the Caribbean School of Dancing in Woodbrook and not long after, he took up choral singing with the Lydians, drama classes at the Lilliput Theatre and music lessons at the Holistic Music School in Belmont. He has performed in local productions such as West Side Story, The Wizard of Oz and Jesus Christ Superstar. In an interview last week, he said although he always had an interest in the performing arts, as he grew older he decided to focus most of his attention on dance. “As the career span of a dancer is short, I wanted to make sure I put all of my available time and energy into forming my craft. As much as I still love to sing and act, I feel as though right now is my time to dance and I don’t take that for granted.”
In 2011, Dennis was awarded the Dai Ailian Foundation dance scholarship which allowed him to study at the Beijing Dance Academy for one year before he returned to continue his secondary schooling at St Mary’s College, Port-of-Spain. At the end of August, he’ll take the next step in his studies with a four-year programme that encompasses dance and liberal arts education. It is a joint programme between the Ailey School and Fordham University in New York. The Ailey School is the official dance school of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Dennis feels the experience he will gather there will be invaluable. “As I grew up,” he said, “the name Alvin Ailey was synonymous with success. I also feel that what Alvin Ailey has to offer me as a Caribbean student is much greater than what I could gain from other universities that aren’t as deeply rooted in African-American culture.”
He said he hopes the concert will shed light on the immense talent of some of T&T’s young people and added that he is heartened by generosity of those lending their talents for the concert.
Asked about his plans when he completes his degree, Dennis says T&T will always remain a major part of them. “I will always return to T&T,” he said. “But the truth of the matter is that I hope to gain experience globally and with that comes tours and contracts for short periods. So I will give back when I am here and I will try to make sure that too much time doesn’t pass before I revisit. One thing for sure is that I have some long term goals to meet and they include me being in Trinidad for a long while.”
• For the Love of Dance will take place on August 2 and 3. For more information, call: 622-4644, 767-5780, 707-2926, 475-5475.
