written by Barbados Today Published: 19/08/2025 Updated: 26/08/2025
Dance is stepping into CARIFESTA XV as a language lab. “People seem so close but yet so far,” says Dance Lead for the Festival, Aisha Comissiong, while reflecting on how Caribbean dancers often watch global masters from a distance. “This is one of the first CARIFESTAs where a great effort is being made to bring professionals from across the dance world into the Caribbean space for people to learn from directly.”
Comissiong is explicit about her objective in enlisting these global professionals: “I’m hoping that exposure to Caribbean dance excellence will inspire new works. It will inspire new languages… our next generation of Caribbean dance pioneers to come up with new and emerging Caribbean dance forms and nation dance languages.”
The guest list reads like a map of influence. Luther Brown (USA/Jamaica) —two-time Emmy-nominated choreographer behind work for Jennifer Lopez, Janet Jackson, Mary J. Blige, Nicki Minaj and more—delivers a hip hop masterclass at EBCCI on Saturday, August 23, 12–2:30 p.m.
PHILADANCO! (The Philadelphia Dance Company), renowned for innovation and the preservation of African-American dance traditions, leads a Modern/Contemporary masterclass on Thursday, August 28, 10 a.m.–12 p.m., also at EBCCI.
icole Pinky Thomas (Modern/Dunham), an educator whose lineage work keeps technique tied to history, and the week’s centre of gravity, is unmistakable: global excellence, grounded in cultural truth.
A PHILADANCO! partner is also offering two scholarships to their Summer Intensive—one Barbadian, one regional— with the workshop functioning “almost like an audition.” That alone makes the week a once in a generation bridge for dancers who have the talent but not always the travel budget.
Comissiong is designing the conversations around career as carefully as the choreography: Q&As with the visiting companies will pull back the curtain on professional practice. She says those workshops will provide “insight into what it is to ‘make it big’… what spaces to be in, who to be networking with and how to prepare to make dance your career.”
Below is the schedule of workshops:
Sunday August 24: Nicole Pinky Thomas (Modern/Dunham); Justin Poleon (Barbados — Cheer Dance); Amritam Shakti (Trinidad — Indian dance).
Monday August 25: L’Acadco (Jamaica — Lantech); Tabanka Dance Ensemble (Afrobeats); Omega St Hilaire & Kanille Brudy (SVG — Folk); Daves Guhza (Zimbabwe — Traditional).
Tuesday August 26: Garth Fagan Dance (USA — Fagan Technique); Tivoli Dance Troupe (Jamaica — Dancehall); Manchoniel Cultural Group (Jamaica — Folk).
Wednesday August 27: NDTC (Jamaica — Caribbean Contemporary); Gem.in.I Project (Barbados — Inclusive Movement); Tabanka (Talawa Technique).
Friday August 29: Mark Vaughan (Barbados — West African); Shauné Culmer & K’Lysa Knowles (Bahamas — Bahamian Folk).
The Bajan dance community will be involved in several events including the Opening Ceremony, Barbados Dance Night, Future in Motion youth showcase, Dancing Archipelago, and even theatre productions like the Ghanaian Mansa Musaand Barbados’ Man Overboard.
For generations, the Caribbean’s movement has been praised and policed, celebrated and side-eyed. CARIFESTA XV says: the way we move is not something to tone down for export; it is something to tone up, refine, and broadcast on our own terms.
Under the Architecture of Innovation banner, the Symposia and Big Conversations ask hard, structural questions about dance: digital platforms and monetisation, institutional training gaps, models like Edna Manley that can be adapted, and funding for companies across the region. The festival’s dance programme thus engages with both policy and pedagogy
Comissiong’s excitement is both personal and generational. “I’m very excited for CARIFESTA Dance,” she says. “I think Caribbean dance excellence is going to be on stage… It’s so critical for us to see what’s happening just a hop, skip and a jump across the islands… I’m hoping this will inspire new languages and our next generation of Caribbean dance pioneers.” She even dares to quantify the dream: if we already recognise one or two nation dance languages, “I’m hoping in the next ten years we have about three, four, five more.”
Book early for the EBCCI masterclasses — Luther Brown (Sunday, August 24, 12–2:30 p.m.) and PHILADANCO! (Thursda,y August 28, 10 a.m.–12 p.m.), which are magnets for both pros and students. Bring water, bring questions, bring humility and stay for the Q&As.
If you’re eligible for the scholarship, be audition-ready for PHILADANCO!, since the awarding partner expects to select one Barbadian and one regional dancer. (PR/BT)