(Tarpum Bay, Eleuthera Bahamas) Eleutherans experienced a rare opportunity this past week when, teaching artist Kelvin Cooper, now with the Ailey Arts in Education and Community Program– an extension of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre New York City, directed a week long Cross Cultural Dance Workshop, hosted by the Eleuthera Arts & Cultural Center (EACC) in Tarpum Bay.

ELEUTHERAN VIDEO COVERAGE: Kelvin Cooper and his class performing for the evening’s audience:

The Workshop, which catered to a wide range of ages, from as young as 7 up to seniors, culminated in a spirited and fun performance – with students showing off their new skills in front of a community audience on the evening of Saturday, July 7th at 7pm at the EACC.

The Eleutheran caught up with Mr. Cooper just as the performance wrapped up inside the EACC, before it moved on to a free flowing and energetic Junkanoo rush out on the outside – showcasing traditional cultural Bahamian dance.  When asked about how the week had gone, Mr. Cooper shared, “I feel really good and I was really impressed.   I just felt like a lot of times, I didn’t have to micro-manage them. I’d just tell them what we were doing – I guided them, and they followed me and they were really receptive.  I think as a result of that, we came up with something pretty powerful, and we got the audience involved as well too – for me, that was even more exciting.”

According to Kelvin, he interacted with nearly one hundred students during the course of the week from July 2nd, through July 6th, with about 75 of them consistently attending the Workshop throughout the week.  The classes were divided into three age groups.  The youngest were the 7 to 12 year olds, which he saw from 2pm to 3:30pm.  In the middle were the teenagers, from 13 to 17 years old, who danced away from 4pm to 5:30pm, and the adults who took full advantage of Kelvin from 6pm to 7:30pm each evening.

 

Kelvin remarked that the adult classes focused more on dance fitness, and he continued, “I know they wanted a work-out, so I wanted to cover a lot of different dance styles so that they could see it’s not intimidating and they could actually get involved.”  He also described his experience with the teens, saying, “We did something a little more complicated with pop, hip hop, and I thought that was a little too much, but because I feel they were really focused, it was easy for me to push through and I was impressed with what they did.”  With the younger group, Kelvin described their time as a focus on the playground, saying, “I wanted them to get back to some of their childhood games.  Again, with me and community building and being from the Bahamas, I feel we’re losing a lot of the intergenerational connection as well as some of the things we grew up with that really brought people together.”

The idea of the Workshop, began as a chance meeting between Heather McCartney – who has family in Eleuthera, and Shaun Ingraham, Co-Chair of the One Eleuthera foundation. 

The event was sponsored by The Eleuthera Arts and Cultural Center and The Stephen Terrell Ingraham Foundation.