Festival Workshops
All masterclasses are held onstage at Queen's Hall,
1-3 St Ann's Road, St Ann's.
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Classes are 30TT.
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Send questions to
Rainy Demerson
University of the West Indies, Barbados/USA
Saturday, October 29 1:00-2:30pm
Queen's Hall
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Afro-Bazilian Dance
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This session will introduce students to two of the most prominent music/dance forms in Brazil: Samba and Samba Reggae. Rooted in West African rhythms, we will enjoy the fast foot-work and Black Pride inspired movements of the northern and southern carnivals.
Photo: Edison Boodoosingh
Astor Johnson Repertory Dance Theatre
Trinidad & Tobago
Sunday, October 30 1:00-2:30pm
Queen's Hall
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Johnson Technique
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Learn Astor Johnson's technique while learning the choreography for Astor Johnson's 1979 work, "Stay Up Zimbabwe".
Kieron Sargeant
with guest Ariel Douglas
University of Iowa, USA/Trinidad & Tobago
Sunday, October 30 11:00-12:30 pm
Queen's Hall
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African-Caribbean Folk Dance
This class will provide the participants with a basic knowledge and movement vocabulary of the Bongo and Limbo Dance of Trinidad and Tobago through an ethnographic lens.
Through discussion and movement exploration, the participants will walk away with a clear understanding of the history, movement style, costume, and musical accompaniment for these dances.
Amanda McCorkle
Texas State University, USA
Amanda McCorkle, MFA, is an award-winning choreographer, performer and teacher from Austin, Texas. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Dance from Texas State University, and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Dance from Texas Woman’s University.
Amanda has performed the works of talented choreographers such as: Bebe Miller, Erick Hawkins, Maureen Freehill, Sarah Gamblin, Andrea Ariel, Sally Jacques, Ellen Bartel, and Rosemary Candelario. In 2006 she became a founding member of the Shay Ishii Dance Company, and now serves as the Executive Assistant Director of their board.
Aisha Comissiong
UWI, Barbados
Aisha Comissiong is a multiple award-winning dancer and choreographer, as well as the founder and Creative Director of the Barbadian dance collective – Riddim Tribe. Her accolades span being selected as Valedictorian whilst receiving a Bachelors in Fine Arts in Performance and Choreography degree with the distinction of achieving the highest-grade point average at The Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts in Jamaica, to being awarded the prestigious Prime Minister’s Scholarship on the basis of her gold-award winning choreography in the National Independence Festival of Creative Arts, amongst others.
