McDaniel
Avia Ustanny, Gleaner Writer
GLEAMING BROWN eyes and an ever ready smile will hit you in the solar plexus, even before you note the lithe grace of her dancer's body.
The beautiful woman is the choreographer, founder and director of the Wolmer's Dance Troupe as well as Dance Xaymaca.
The driver who accompanied us did everything except jump in an oven, as he offered himself to Barbara McDaniel on a verbal platter.
Outlook tracked Barbara to her dance studio at Wolmer's. We soon discover that the diva of dance is a stone's throw from shyness. But, there is nothing timid about the choreography of Barbara McDaniel.
Her groups have been making a statement, season after season.
Dance Xaymaca was created in 1996 for her older dancers, and Wolmer's Troupe, made up of past and present students of Wolmer's, was formed in 1991 when the dance tutor, employed to Wolmer's, decided that the talents of those she had trained had moved beyond the annual national festival showing.
For many years, these students, under the expert guidance of the tutor, have entered the Jamaican National Dance Festival Competitions and won numerous gold medals and special awards. Barbara McDaniel herself was awarded the Badge of Honour for Meritorious Service for choreography in Jamaica's Independence Day Honours List August 2001.
Her groups have performed in the Eastern Caribbean, in the United States, in Korea and in Surinam. The sky appears to be the limit.
McDaniel's occupation has served her well, we discover in time, as, though she looks not one day older than 29, she is really 41 years old.
"I am 41. Honest," she grins in her engaging way and soon she begins to relate her schooling at St. Anne's, St. Peter Claver and finally the School of Dance in the 1970s. We reluctantly believe. The dance tutor has lead a magical life, although her mother died when she was only eight years old and her father 'disappeared' soon after.
She grew up with grandmother 'Goddy' in Kingston, but really, she says, she was raised by all her teachers. "I was adopted by everybody. I was loved. I was cherished. Everybody raised me."
Guardian angel
Things could have turned out very differently for this child of the inner-city, but more than one guardian angel watched over her. Her introduction to dance started with the disciplined Gloria Grandison at St. Anne's Secondary School who took her girls to the festival year after year where they won many medals.
"Miss Grandison was good... She said we should have no boyfriends," Barbara recalls. "The young girls also had to be polished and carry themselves with proper posture because, coming from St. Anne's they thought we were from no where." Miss Grandison's girls had to show them.
Another godparent was Tony Laing who then worked with the Festival Commission and who took the young Barbara under his wings.
She would also emulate others.
Barbara loved and still loves people like Rex Nettleford and Sheila Barnett. At the School of Dance, Tony Wilson was also a great influence.
The School of Dance was a challenging experience for Barbara, as she did not know how she would be accepted as a product of the inner-city. She had no car, no mother dropping her at school, no obvious source of wealth. But, before too long, she was Miss Popular. Her classmates gravitated to her warm smile and her personality. Barbara was bold. "I was not afraid of anything, afraid to try anything. My attitude was, if you don't want to like me, I cannot help that."
After graduation, she was employed to Wolmer's where she fell in love with the children and, year after year after year, would take home the gold medal in Festival. Hyacinth Bennett, then principal, was a source of great inspiration for her, Barbara also recalls.
When things began to get bumpy on the festival track (she began to meet a lot of resentment because Wolmer's won year after year) she knew it was time to begin something new. Before that, however, many nights she would go home and cry, wondering if she should "get a visa and forget everything". However, the love of the children and the support of parents continued to be her source of sustenance and, in 1991, the Wolmer's Troupe was created. With the support of the parents, the first show was held at the Little Theatre in Kingston and was a great success. Thirteen years later, the entire group is still doing well.
There have never been less than 70 girls in the troupe, with ages ranging from 4-17 years. Even though some 20 of the dancers now attend various high schools, and some colleges, Wolmer's Preparatory School remains the base for the Troupe.
The relationship which Barbara has with her girls is akin to that of a family. Later, when we ask her about marriage and a family she will simply say that she has her girls.
Best moment
The choreographer recalls as her best moment one year at festival when the negativity from competitors was so much, that her group resorted to praying, holding hands in a circle, before the event. On stage, the girls danced with all their might although many of them were actually crying. At the end of the dance, they received a standing ovation. They won.
"That's a moment we can never forget."
Barbara says that she tells her girls not to forget her, and indeed many who have migrated or gone away to college still come to look for her when they return home.
Some have even opted to stay with her which is why Dance Xaymaca was created. Both the troupe and Dance Xaymaca have been doing consistently well. Barbara praises God for this.
At Wolmer's she remains deeply involved in more than the dance programme as she has also made herself responsible for physical education. She is in charge of discipline as well. The combination of joyful dancing and strict conduct has been the consuming theme of her life. After long days spent in the dance studio, she heads for her 'beautiful' home and does not come out until it's time for school. She does not sleep well, she admits.
But, at nights, she dreams of dancing.
It is the only way that inspiration comes.
