Small Dancer, Big Story

Stepping onto the NIFCA stage this year, the Wesley Hall Junior School dancers carried far more than choreography. They carried a lesson, a legacy and the weight of a story older than any of them. Their piece, The Fight for Freedom, captured the imagination of audiences and judges, earning NIFCA Gold, Best Performance by a Primary School, the first-ever NIFCA Teacher’s Prize and two Junior Scholarships. At the centre of this remarkable showing was a dedicated team of educators, including choreographer and teacher Ms Richilde Hunte.

The piece began its life earlier in the year as part of the school’s African Awareness Day celebrations. As NIFCA approached, the creative team saw the opportunity to take it further. “The dance piece was reconceptualised and modified to explore the history of our early historical encounters with slavery,” Hunte explained. To bring such a profound theme into a primary school setting, the team leaned on imagination as much as technique. Storytelling became the foundation. It gave the children a way to understand the emotional landscape of the work and helped them shape movement into meaning. Hunte and her colleagues built each section with vocabulary suitable for the dancers’ varying abilities, and they used imagery to bring the message to life.

Education lies at the heart of Wesley Hall Junior’s dance philosophy. Hunte sees dance as both a teaching tool and a language for communication. “The creative arts allow for individuals to understand themselves, others and the world,” she said. The team encouraged the students not only to learn choreography but to learn through physical experience. They researched the themes, discussed the history, and practised delivering movement with intention. “The meaning behind a given section or a movement was emphasised to ensure that the emotional execution or movement quality relates to the overall story,” she noted.

Wesley Hall Junior School dancers bring “The Fight for Freedom” to life with power, pride and purpose.

It is an approach that has shaped the school’s growing reputation in the performing arts. Many people assume that primary school dancers achieve what they do because of early training or specialised programmes, but Hunte is quick to correct that assumption. “The children present with no formal training in dance,” she said. What they do have is a natural spark. They are creative, imaginative and energised by the process. Their enthusiasm is matched by discipline. They work through long hours of repetition and refinement and support each other in every aspect of school life. For them, teamwork is more than a theme within a performance; it is a daily practice.

Behind the scenes, the choreography team functions with a similar synergy. Hunte works alongside Kimar Taylor, Deanna Rouse and Andrea Holder. Each brings a different strength shaped by their own experiences in the dance community. “There are instances where one member of the team may emphasise emotional execution and movement quality,” she shared. At other times the focus shifts to musicality, timing or refining ideas. Their collaborative process strengthens the final outcome and ensures the story is clear, cohesive and rooted in shared purpose.

The journey to NIFCA, however, was far from simple. Midway through the year, Wesley Hall Junior School was displaced and its students and staff were divided among three temporary locations. Finding rehearsal space became a daily puzzle. With the support of Principal Grieg Walters, the dancers were welcomed into St George Secondary, St Leonard’s Boys’ School and later the George Lamming Primary School. The YMCA also opened its doors for evening and weekend practices. Parents carpooled tirelessly. Teachers helped with transport. Families stepped in to hold things together at home. It was an effort that reflected the very themes of the piece: resilience, unity and community.

Rising in rhythm and purpose, the Wesley Hall Junior School dancers tell a story of strength and freedom with every step.

Despite the obstacles, the dancers grew with every rehearsal and every stage of the NIFCA journey. Their confidence deepened. Their emotional presence strengthened. “The biggest transformation was the growth, the maturity in the children’s dancing ability and the emotional strength throughout the process,” Hunte recalled. With each round of preliminaries, semifinal performances and finals, they rose to the occasion.

Winning NIFCA Gold was the moment that affirmed it all. For Hunte, it represented the culmination of every challenge, sacrifice and breakthrough. “The award represents the culmination of the hard-work experienced throughout the process,” she said. It was not only the dancers who were being recognised but also their parents, teachers and the team who guided them. The NIFCA Teacher’s Prize carried a special significance. It affirmed their belief in non-traditional, creative approaches to education. As Hunte stated, the prize supports her conviction that “education should seek to develop the holistic child”.

Looking forward, Hunte hopes the experience leaves a lasting imprint on the dancers’ lives. “I hope that this experience has encouraged a sense of confidence and awareness within the children,” she shared. She believes their creative energy has been empowered and that their resilience will continue to shape them both inside and outside of dance. Her wish is simple and profound: that they grow into imaginative, confident and creative dancers for the future.

In their Fight for Freedom, the Wesley Hall Junior School dancers showed Barbados what can happen when history, art and education meet. They stood on stage as children but performed with a clarity and strength befitting storytellers. And in doing so, they carved out a place for themselves as young artists to watch in the years ahead. (PR)