Maxine Browne returns from training

Maxine Browne has recently returned from an International three-week training course in the management of dance organisations and she is ready to put what she has learnt into practice.{{more}}

Browne, the Dance Development Officer in the Ministry of Culture represented St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the International Cultural Exchange Fellows Mentoring Programme held in Washington.

The programme was sponsored by the United States Department Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs and the John F Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts. Other countries including Argentina, Cambodia, China, Iraq, Palestinian territory, Philippines and South Africa also took part in the programme.

Browne, who described the experience as an eye opening one, was exposed to training in many areas, such as marketing, management, planning and development and the importance of media involvement in developing dance and art. “In short, my experience was great, it was awesome and fantastic, words cannot express how I really felt after (completing) that programme,” she said.

Browne added that she learnt new creative ways in which to better organize and manage a dance organization. Browne also believes that with the new things she has learnt, she will be able to enhance dance organizations in St.Vincent. She also has plans to expose special needs children to the art of dance and have more facilities such as ramps in places like the Peace Memorial Hall so that disabled children and persons can attend dance performances.

The three-week programme ran from April19 to May 12 2009, and took place in various locations and had three phases. Phase one of the programme took place in Washington DC where participants were taught of the various ways in which they could enhance their skills as arts managers. In Phase two of the programme, participants were sent to different art organisations in the United States. Browne was sent to the Philadelphia dance company, where she was educated in theoretical and practical methods on how to effectively manage and maintain the standard of an organization. Phase three included visits to New York based organizations such as the Julliard School, Lincoln Centre for the Performing Arts and the Metropolitan Opera amoung many others in this phase participants were shown how the theoretical knowledge gained was put into practice in these institutions.

Browne expressed her gratitude to the US Embassy in Barbados and the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines for selecting her for the programme. She added that she is ready and eager to put what she has learnt into practice, especially with her dance group the La Gracia dance company and other dance groups in schools and community groups with which she is involved. Browne also thanked the J.F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts, the U.S. State Department and Karen Jackson of Questelles for making her experience an enjoyable one.(OS)