Festival Workshops
All masterclasses are held onstage at Queen's Hall,
1-3 St Ann's Road, St Ann's.
Classes are 30TT.
Send questions to
Rainy Demerson
University of the West Indies, Barbados/USA
Saturday, October 29 1:00-2:30pm
Queen's Hall
Afro-Bazilian Dance
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
Johnson Technique
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
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.
