The Dallas Black Dance Theatre is in Belize for the first time to perform as a part of - Dance Extravaganza- an annual event hosted by the Institute of Creative Arts. The dance company is one of the oldest in the U.S which is consists of 12 professional full-time dancers - who have been all over the world to perform. One of those twelve professional dancers is Belize's very own Jamie Thompson, a graduate of Wesley College and an ex Dance Company member. Thompson along with the group will be performing 2 nights in Belize; Friday in Punta Gorda and Saturday in Belize City. We found out why you should come out:
Shari Williams - Communications Officer, NICH
"For the third year in a row, the National Institute of Culture and History, through ICA (Institute of Creative Arts) is host Dance Extravaganza, or Dance X for short. This year, we've decided to invite several international companies to come into Belize to portray the type of dances that they do. Opening this year, is going to be the Dallas Black Dance Theatre. They are a company who have been in existence for 35 years, one of the oldest professional dancing company in the US. We are very happy that one of their professional dancers - they have 12 professional dancers - one of their professional dancers is a Belizean, Jamie Thompson. So for him, this is like a home-coming. He is going to performing for the first time with his dance company, the Dallas Black Dance Theatre here in Belize, in front of friends and family. And we are definitely happy to have them here. They will be performing only 2 performances, one Friday night November 4 in Punta Gorda at the PG Sports Complex. That's going to start at 8 p.m., and the second performance will be here at the Bliss Center Saturday, the 5th at 8 p.m. Of course, tickets are on sale here at the Bliss, and we are inviting people to drop in and pick up their tickets early. The show promises to be a mixture of several dance types. We have contemporary dances, classical dances, I understand Hip Hop, some more modern dances. So it's definitely going to be very interesting to see a different genre of dances here at the Bliss."
Monica Bodden
"Mr. Thompson, tell us. How does it feel to actually be back and you will be performing in your home-town?"
Jamie Thompson - Dancer, Dallas Black Dance Theatre
"It's definitely surreal. I never thought that this early in my journey, I would have been able to come back and share what I've been working on for the past 5 years with my country. So I am very excited about that."
Monica Bodden
"Tell us what people can expect on these 2 days that you guys will be performing."
Jamie Thompson
"Over these 2 days, people can expect a lot of energy. They one thing that I really like about the company is the high-impact energy. All the pieces that we are doing is - the minute you start, you get on stage, you don't stop moving until it's done. So I think that they're going to be very much attracted to the level of energy and stamina that we have."
Monica Bodden
"What kind of dances will you guys be performing?"
Jamie Thompson
"Dallas Black is predominantly a modern company, but in this day and age, you have to be a jack-of-all-trades, so we do a lot of contemporary work. On this show, we have most works which are contemporary and one of them that is simply a modern dance. On Thursday, we will be doing a master class from 6 until 8, and I don't think anyone will want to miss that because it's going to be very interesting."
The Dallas Black Dance theatre will be performing at the PG Sports Complex on Friday night at 8 o'clock and on Saturday they will be hitting the stage at the Bliss Center for the Performing arts also at 8pm. Tickets are 10 dollars general and 20 reserve and can be purchased at the Bliss.
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