Well-known Jamaican dancer Sheila Barnett is dead

At 83, well-known Jamaican dancer and choreographer, Sheila Barnett dies.

She died yesterday at the Andrews Memorial Hospital in Kingston after a prolonged illness.

As a dancer, choreographer, dance educator, researcher and author, Mrs. Barnett contributed more than five decades to the development of dance in the Caribbean, including years with the pioneering Ivy Baxter Creative Dance Group, of which she was a founding member. She was also a co-founder and the first Director of the Jamaica School of Dance, of the now Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts.

With the National Dance Theatre Company (NDTC), she doubled as a principal dancer and choreographer, creating 17 works between 1963 and 1989.

Mrs. Barnett, who was also a senior education officer of the Ministry of Education, was instrumental in introducing dance into the school curriculum. She was a major resource person on Caribbean Dance for ministries of education throughout the region and an expert dance educator and lecturer at various educational institutions, including the Excelsior High School, St. Joseph

Author Profile

Administrator: ... refers to representatives of entities such as embassies, entertainment industry, creative force whose submitted work gets published on this site. Views expressed here may not necessarily represent those of the owner of this site, but are being published in the interest of the wider public. Link me here