Loca ballroom dancing can go places if there are proper facilities for dancers to practise their skills.
This is one of the challenges facing the art form, says Robert Boyce, the president of both Jahbulani Dance Club and the Barbados Dance Council.
“We are doing well but it could better. There is a lack of adequate facilities to cater to the ballroom expression. It would be nice to have [venues] with wooden floors. When you put tiles on cement, it is still cement. You need to have a surface to cushion the impact on the knees and ankles,” he said.
Jahbulani commemorated its 20th year with a show and dance entitled Dynamic Dudes & Divas Dancing Thru De Years at St Leonard’s Boys’ School recently.
Organizers promised “a great and spectacular” event and they did not disappoint, with guest appearances by dancers from Genesis Dance Studio and Ace Dance Centre.
Boyce said he would like to see more young people joining the club since most of the members “are getting on [in age]”.
When asked if there was a stigma attached to males doing ballroom, he replied: “If it was there, it is very minimal now.”
Jahbulani has made a name for itself by visiting Blackpool, England, to participate in a number of dance competitions in 2010 and 2012, copping a first and second place.
“We did not go back because of a lack of funds,” said Boyce. (JS)
