PHILIPSBURG:--- Several members of the National Institute for Arts (NIA), including teachers and students,are currently in the United States of America receiving rigorous instructions in the fields of dance and performance art.
The students, Ray-Angel Boasman, Jeremiah David, Zoe van Zadelhoff, Dashaun Prince, Lian Borje, Jay Mills, Jeanille Gibs and Mervin Leblanc are in New York with the Art Saves Lives Foundation and were amongst those chosen to travel to receive lessons at prestigious dance institutions in that state. In addition to their classes, students are also able to take in the city's sights and broaden their knowledge about dance and also the world.
"At NIA we are committed to giving our students every opportunity to see dance and the performance arts as more than just a hobby, as a true vehicle for self-development and means through which to see the world. We were extremely pleased when our students enrolled in Art Saves Lives Summer Intensive 2014 and very pleased when so many of them were chosen to have this experience with such a wonderful organization in New York," Clara Reyes, co-director of NIA, said.
NIA teacher, Clifford Henry is also in US, though further west in Seattle, Washington, attending the Summer Dance Institute for Teachers (SDIT) at the Creative Dance Center. At the end of his stay, he will receive his teacher's certificate from this esteemed institute. Last year, NIA teachers Rudolph Davis and Naomi Adriana were also able to travel for training to this program, courtesy of a scholarship from NIA. Co-directors Reyes and Arlene Halley are also certified by the same school.
"We would like to stress here our commitment to the professional development of our teachers in order to maintain NIA's high standard of artistic excellence. Whatever our teachers learn benefits our students and allows them to develop to their highest potentials. The benefit of this course is not only limited to the teacher in question, but the entire community will be impacted by the dissemination of their acquired knowledge through their community based teaching," Halley said.
Reyes and Halley said that NIA was busy fostering relationships with other regional and international dance and performing arts institutions including Head Made Factory on French St. Martin, ArtEZ in Arnhem and other renowned institutes in Amsterdam, and Edna Manley College for Visual and Performing Arts, in Jamaica.
"For us what is most important is that our students and teachers understand how very much we want them to excel and also do their best in both dance and beyond. Again, the arts is a medium through which lives can be explored and transformed and we always want them to remember this as they move through each new encounter and experience," the co-directors said.
