TT dancers off to LA

The Academy with their trophy
The Academy with their trophy

FOUR TT dance acts left for the USA yesterday, to participate in the next phase of screening for the NBC hit series, World of Dance (WoD) taking place tomorrow and Sunday in Pasadena, Los Angeles, California.

Popular group The Academy, solo dancer Thema Williams, salsa duo Stefan Maynard and Karline Brathwaite, and hip-hop duo DREN will participate at the international qualifier and as well, attend two informative workshops in Burbank, California.

Edge director Kyle Lequay and his team flew to LA on Wednesday ahead of the TT contingent. Lequay said: “Win, lose or draw, we will be the first Caribbean nation to field an entire contingent at this international qualifier and of course, the experience will be invaluable to our local dancers and dance crews moving forward in their careers.”

Salsa duo, Stefan Maynard and Karline Brathwaite on stage at NAPA during the local preliminary

He thanked corporate and government sponsors for their support which ensured that participants’ flight, accommodation and transportation arrangements were made on time.

Those sponsors include NLCB, Sunshine Snacks, Be Well Medical Group, 63 Lounge and the Ministries of Community Development, Culture and the Arts, Sports and Tourism.

DREN onstage at NAPA

Lequay said: “So now that we can field this contingent of over 25 dancers for this great international competition, we’re all ready to show NBC what TT has to offer.” The St James-based Academy dancers who won the team category, have been performing together for the past ten years with contemporary, hip hop, Afrobeat, folk, ballet and tap. Williams was the gymnast who dominated media headlines when she was unceremoniously and controversially pulled from the TT 2016 Olympic contingent headed to Brazil and replaced with Canadian-based gymnast Marisa Dick.

Nevertheless both Williams and The Academy are particularly excited about their participation in the competition.

Thema Williams with her local trophy

Asked about the other two qualifying dance groups, Swastika Dance Group and Khalnayak Dance Company, that were not on yesterday’s flight Lequay said: “Unfortunately upon the groups seeking sponsorship for their entire casts, they were unsuccessful in getting all of them sponsored.”

He explained: “The expenses of the winners in each category were covered by the local franchise, while the other winners were responsible for raising their own funds for travel, with assistance by the franchise that provided the related documents and sponsorship letters to aid in their sponsorship quest. But we were only obligated to provide full sponsorship for the local WoD category winners (The Academy and Williams).”

With DREN, Maynard and Brathwaite raising their own funds, Lequay said: “We are really excited to have all 21 dancers going up.... so we are really looking forward to having a good showing there and hopefully we can come out with something victorious for the groups to get called onto the show which will be a huge accomplishment for us.”

TT competitors, once successful will be included in a show that will be recorded in March 2019 to compete against WoD franchise winners around the world including England, Buenos Aires, Chine, USA and Canada. The 2019 shooting starts at the NBC Universal Studios in LA in March and will air from May to July.

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