LEADERSHIP
JAMAL CALLENDER -
FOUNDER & ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Director, entrepreneur, dancer, choreographer, model, and educator Barbadian-American artist Jamal Callender began dancing at Ballet Tech and Brooklyn College Preparatory Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. He graduated from the Professional Performing Arts School/The Ailey School and then received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from The Juilliard School in 2009 under Lawrence Rhodes. Jamal has performed in several dance companies including, The Atlanta Ballet (2009-2010), Peridance Ensemble (2010), Loni Landon Project (2011), Formal Structure Inc. (2011), Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (2010-2011), Ballet Hispanico as a principal dancer (2011-2015), Opus Dance Theatre (2014), Kevin O'Day Ballett at National Theater Mannheim as a soloist (2015-2016), NTM TANZ under Stephan Thoss as a soloist (2016-2020), and guest soloist with Ballet Bern (2020-2021). Jamal is currently a guest with the company Riva & Repele. In 2012, Jamal was a recipient of the prestigious Princess Grace Award. In 2014, Jamal founded the Barbados Dance Project (BDP) to bring awareness to the importance of dance by educating, collaborating, and engaging with the Barbadian community through a movement offering tuition-free service. In 2017, Jamal was named by Barbados Today one of the “51 Inspiring Young Bajans” in celebration of the country’s 51st year of independence alongside Rihanna. Jamal is a widely sought-after educator having taught classes/workshops internationally for Ballet Hispanico, Ailey II, New Orleans Ballet Association (N.O.B.A), the National Cultural Foundation (Barbados), Western Arkansas Ballet, Institute of the Arts Barcelona (Spain), MOVE|NYC|, PAR en Dansa (Barcelona), and IT Dansa (Barcelona). As a choreographer, Jamal was named the winner of the 2021 Future of Dance Festival, curated by the historic 92nd Street Y in NYC. Later, he received an invitation for his winning work to be shown at Martha Graham’s Joyce theater season in NYC. His works have been performed in Barbados, the USA, Germany, and Spain. In 2021 Jamal created GLORIA on Par en Dansa which was performed with a live orchestra and chorus and toured throughout the Catalonia region. As a lifelong advocate of the arts, Jamal has served as a member of Dance/NYC Junior Committee and serves on the artistic advisory board of MOVE|NYC|. Jamal is represented by Fifth Artists in Barcelona and has been featured in the BMW M8 2022 commercial, and Sea Mirror. Most recently Jamal was featured in the DIOR SS23 runway show in Paris as a guest dance artist.
JOHN HUNTE-
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
John Hunte is an accomplished performer and arts activist arts manager, performer, choreographer, teacher and consultant. Hunte graduated with an MFA in Performing Arts Management from Brooklyn College, New York City in 2003. Recently, Hunte received a PhD degree in cultural studies from the Faculty of Humanities and Education at the Cave Hill, Barbados Campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI). His PhD thesis, Beyond the Silence: Men, Dance and Masculinity in the Caribbean, interrogates where dance and masculinity intersect as perceived through the lens and perception of men who dance onstage. A former Cultural Officer – Dance at the National Cultural Foundation (NCF), Hunteis currently a research fellow, a part-time tutor at the Barbados Community College, and a temporary lecturer at the UWI Cave Hill Campus in the creative studies and cultural studies programmes. He recently completed the task of Artistic Coordinator for CARIFESTA XIII held August 17 – 27, 2017 in Barbados. As General Manager and Producer with Barbados Dance Project, and Artistic Director of theBDP Ensemble, Hunte overseas ongoing choreographic process for budding dancers to collaborate with various performance projects.
COURTENAY LIAN THORNE- ASSOCIATE
Courtenay Thorne is in a master’s program at Florida State University due to receive her MFA degree in Dance (Performance and Choreography) in 2021. While attending FSU the School of Dance has given her the opportunity to also teach ballet and contemporary dance forms at the institution. She previously received her bachelor’s degree from Skidmore College in 2012 where she majored in Dance (Performance and Choreography). While she was a student at Skidmore College, she had the opportunity to be tutored by members of The Martha Graham Dance Company, The Limon Dance Company, Battleworks Dance Company, Bill T. Jones/ Arnie Zane Dance Company, New York City Ballet and manymore. After graduating she taught, choreographed and had involvement with The University of the WestIndies (Cavehill, Barbados), Barbados Community College, The Dance Place (Barbados), The NationalCultural Foundation (Barbados) and many other schools and artists in Barbados. In 2015 she was presented with the opportunity to attend Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London,England, and in 2016 she received her Diploma in Dance Studies. After completing her studies in London she travelled to Japan where she was invited to teach and present her solo work alongside members of the Mikiyo Imai Dance Company and other artists. Prior to starting her MFA at Florida State University she lived in Trinidad where she performed, taught, choreographed and collaborated. She has worked withThe Caribbean School of Dancing, The Metamorphosis Dance Company, The University of Trinidad and Tobago, Elle InfiniTT and other artists and schools. It was at this time that she presented two more of her solo works, once at Jamaica Dance Umbrella and once at the COCO Dance Festival. Her love of travel and eagerness to keep learning has led her to attend many dance intensives and festivals in North America, Canada, Trinidad, Hungary and Jamaica. Courtenay searches to further develop and refine herself as an artist as she keeps advancing throughout her career. Her goal is to not only push for growth in herself but to also see growth within those around her and her community. She believes that collaboration and connecting artists and movers from all over the world plays a crucial part in developing oneself and one's community.
STEFANIE TAKEI-TAYLOR - ASSOCIATE
Stefanie Takei-Taylor is a dance professional and creative entrepreneur. Born in Pasadena, California where she trained at Pasadena Dance Theatre, American Ballet Theatre, and Austin Ballet. She was a semi-finalist in the Los Angeles Music Center “Spotlight Awards” and went on to received a BFA in dance from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts as a Trustee Scholar under the direction of Linda Tarnay. She later received a Masters in Tourism Marketing from the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus. Stefanie has worked with choreographers Laurence Blake, Cherylyn Lavagnino, Doug Nielsen, Stephen Petronio, T. Lang, Brook Notary, Kyle Abraham, and Johannes Wieland before moving to Barbados. She is a founding member of Diesel Fusion Dance Theatre with Ihaia Miller and currently teaches at all the major dance academies, at Barbados Community College and UWI Cave Hill Campus and performs withmany of them as requested. She had the honor to represent BDP at the Coco Dance Festival in Trinidad and at Jamaica Dance Umbrella the past few years dancing works created by Jamal Callender, Nigel Campbell, Renee I. McDonald, and Tara-Jane Herbert. She most recently represented herself at JDU in March 2020 performing the solo Strange Fruit (1943) choreographed by Pearl Primus and restaged by Mary Waithe. An experienced social media marketing consultant and director at Barbados Dance Project since April 2017, Takei-Taylor has taken a hands-on approach to the development of professional dance in Barbados sharing her knowledge and passion with the Barbadian dance community.
Shea Best -
ASSOCIATE
Shea Best is a young Barbadian dancer, choreographer, actor and singer. His diverse background in dance primarily stems from Ballet, Jazz, Modern, Contemporary, Afro-Caribbean, Dancehall, and more recently, commercial forms of dance. In Barbados, Shea has trained extensively under many tutors including Dany Diallo Hinds, Adonia Evelyn, John Hunte, and Gene Carson, among others. His journey has taken him to be one of the first members of the NCF Summer Dance Desk Internship Programme in 2012, spearheaded by Dr. John Hunte and from here he has toured throughout the Caribbean (Cuba, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Anguilla, Antigua) for training and performance opportunities on some of the biggest stages in the region. Shea has worked with and continues to dance, choreograph and tour with several award-winning groups owing to his eclectic background and style. These include Dancin’ Africa, Of Another Nature, Riddim Tribe, and of course, Barbados Dance Project, from whose inception Shea was there. Shea’s choreographic prowess gained the attention of many at NIFCA 2019 (National Independence Festival for Creative Arts) for his choreographic work “Before the Bough Breaks”, leading him to become the island’s most recent recipient of the ever-coveted Prime Minister’s Award. He received this award among others for Best Choreographer and Best Performance. He also received The Madame Ifill Award of Excellence (awarded to the highest scoring dance entry), the UNICEF award, and a nomination for The Founder’s Trophy (awarded to the highest scoring entry across the disciplines) for having created one of the most outstanding pieces of the year 2019.