La Gracia Dance Company reaches 9!

In striving for excellence, the mission of the La Gracia Dance Company is to nurture young minds through the art of dance by providing an avenue through which dancers’{{more}} artistic abilities could be enhanced and taken to new heights, as we share our passion for dance and the performing arts, and deliver meaningful performances, full of beauty, joy of expression, creativity and love – and be ambassadors for dance in/for St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Under the watchful tutelage of Maxine Mavorn Browne, the La Gracia has become a household name nationally.

With the choreography “Freedom”, La Gracia, as it is affectionately called, made its grand debut on August 1, 2002, at the National Emancipation celebrations held by the Ministry of Culture at Heritage Square. Since then the troupe, besides performing at various functions/activities in St Vincent and the Grenadines, has produced “Reflections (2006), “Mask-A-Raid” (2007), “Potpourri” (2009), “Rhythm of Life” (2010), featuring Shashamane Cultural Ensemble from Trinidad and Tobago and “Ekoosah…the way we do it” (2011), which featured ‘Dancin’ Africa of Barbados.

Guided by its motto “Only the BEST is Good Enough”, La Gracia has always striven to go the extra mile to ensure that its ideas are present in a very technical, creative and entertaining manner. The dances evolved from improvisational and compositional structures developed by La Gracia. This unique process of creation inspires and deepens the connection and understanding of the dancers and empowers their performances. To this end, La Gracia has thrilled many audiences and has become a well-favoured troupe amongst a wide proportion of the Vincentian populace.

Some of La Gracia’s most memorable performances/occasions include: Being featured on American Entertainment (A&E) Television programme “ Breakfast with the Arts”, Church-Related Activities, Grand Opening of Raffles Resort in Canouan, copping the 2004 KCCU National Dance Award – Most Outstanding Dance Troupe Title, Credit Union Cultural Evening in Trinidad and Tabago, Splectron’s Fair of the Year, Digicel’s Official Launching here in SVG, Miss Carival 2010 (Most Outstanding Dance Performance Vincy Mas 2010), Union Island’s Easterval Activities, University of the West Indies (Open Campus) activities, Nine Mornings Festivities, Cantemus’ Celebration, other Ministerial functions…just to name a few.

Dance being the focus of this team, the youth meet every Saturday from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm at the Lowmans Leeward Anglican School, where they are exposed to the various genres of dance. With close to one hundred dancers, the group is divided into four sections: Juniors Level One, Juniors Level Two, Intermediates and Seniors. This skilled approach caters for students of varying ages and technical abilities – NO CHILD IS LEFT OUT!!!!

With the future before them, La Gracia intends to take choreography to new heights in elegance, artistry and creativity here in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

As we celebrate our nine year feat, we take this opportunity to thank everyone who has sponsored and or supported us over the years: SEARCHLIGHT newspaper, Dental Care, Caribbean Medical Imaging Center, National Commercial Bank now Bank of St Vincent and the Grenadines, The Government Printery, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Ruddy’s Electrical, First Caribbean Bank, St Vincent Teachers’ Credit Union, General Employees Co-operative Credit Union, Mountain Top Springs, Edwin D’Layne and Son, D’ Nice Stuff Boutique, Sa Sheil’s Boutique, Kids’ Town, Clare Keizer, Hon. Rene Baptiste, Dr Adrian Fraser, Karen Jackson, Rochelle Forde, Anne Jones, Alicia Doyle, Michael Da Silva, Skiddy Francis, Headteacher, Staff and Students of the Lowmans Leeward Anglican School, Central Leeward Secondary School, Layou Government School, Roxanne Wickham, Roxanne Dalrymple, Pennola Ross, Andrea Gaymes, Sean Frederick, Julian ‘Peling’ Pollard, David “Darkie” Williams, Lynton “Tad” Samuel, Anthony Dennie, Anthony Clarke, John Horne, Jillian Willliams, Zoe Da Silva, Ronnie Richardson, Kelvile and Grania Williams, Marilyn Shallow, Cecelia Cruickshank, Judy Tash, Sharon Millington, ALL PARENTS OF LA GRACIA, AND ALL FRIENDS AND FANS OF LA GRACIA.