From Stage to Sculpture

When Valencia James stepped onto the stage at age six with the Louise Woodvine Dance Academy, she could not have imagined that her love for movement would one day take her from Barbados to the studios of Cuba and the halls of the University of California, Berkeley. What began as a childhood fascination with performance blossomed into an international career defined by creativity, research, and cultural reconnection.

“I always wanted to have more experiences on stage,” she recalled. “Just being on stage for me was heaven.” That passion drove a teenage Valencia to answer a call for entries she saw in the newspaper, an invitation to compete in the National Independence Festival of Creative Arts, better known as NIFCA.

Her decision changed everything.

Valencia entered NIFCA with her self-choreographed piece Bring Me to Life, inspired by the haunting vocals of Evanescence. “I didn’t even have a costume at first,” she laughed. “Then my dad took me to Pauline Bellamy, and we created one together.”

That performance earned her not only a Gold Award, but also the Prime Minister’s Scholarship for Dance, then valued at $10,000, an achievement she still describes as surreal. “When the then Cultural Officer responsible for dance, Ian Douglas, called to say I’d won gold, I was elated. It gave me the chance to study dance abroad, to really chase that dream of becoming a professional dancer,” Valencia recalled.

Valencia James. Photo credited to Botond Bognar.

Scholarship in hand, Valencia set her sights on the National School of the Arts (LAENA) in Havana, where she immersed herself in Modern Dance. It was, she said, a natural extension of the strong foundation she’d built at home under the guidance of Louise Woodvine and her dedicated team of teachers.

Cuba expanded her horizons. Beyond the rigour of training, it introduced her to the idea that dance could be more than performance, it could be research, storytelling, and a bridge between generations. “Through NIFCA, I met Ian Douglas, who had just come back from a career in Germany,” she said. “He introduced me to workshops and performances that helped me grow as both an artist and a thinker.”

Years later, Valencia’s artistic path would bring her to the University of California, Berkeley, where she completed her Master of Fine Arts in Art Practice in 2024. There, her curiosity and creativity converged in an installation that paid tribute to one of Barbados’s most enduring cultural traditions — the Barbados Landship.

The two-year research project culminated in a 15-foot mixed-media installation titled Ceremonial. Using found objects, rope, fabric, reflective surfaces, and video, she explored “the legacy of care and resilience of the Black working class in Barbados and beyond.” The work, she explained, reflected how ancestral memory and tradition move through the body, how dance, history, and identity intertwine.

Valencia James – “Ceremonial.” Photo credited to Graham Holoch.

“It was the moment I felt fully satisfied,” she said softly. “That piece brought together everything I had been learning about movement, about my roots, about the people who came before me.”

Now based in California, Valencia teaches Performance Art at the California College of the Arts, guiding a new generation of artists to explore how performance can connect the body, the senses, and the natural world. Her current work focuses on how movement can respond to environmental change while remaining anchored in ancestral wisdom.

“I’ve always had this innate desire to dance and to create,” she said. “It feels ancestral. My work now is about deepening my connection with my ancestors, learning their stories and finding creative ways to tell them.”

To the young artists who may be nervously contemplating their own NIFCA debut, Valencia’s message is simple: trust yourself. “I remember seeing the call and thinking, ‘Do I have what it takes?’ But you just have to go for it. Trust the process. NIFCA is such a great platform. I found mentorship, support, and encouragement there, and that made all the difference.”

For Valencia James, NIFCA was more than a competition; it was a life-changing beginning, one that continues to ripple through her art, her teaching, and her storytelling. From the dance floors of Bridgetown to the galleries of Berkeley, her journey remains a powerful testament to the creative spirit that Barbados continues to nurture through its national arts festival. (PR)