- CONTRIBUTED
Shelley-Ann doing one of her pieces.Teino Evans, Staff Reporter
IT IS amazing how quickly things can change and life's original goals can quickly fade. For Shelley-Ann Maxwell, becoming the next 'Sunshine Girl' in Jamaican female football was a goal that she had her eyes fixed on for years and many thought that this would be accomplished.
After all, it is in the blood, as she is the daughter of football coach and former national player, Jeffery Maxwell. Shelley-Ann says while growing up she was classed as a 'tomboy' and she always wanted to be the ball girl. But all that would soon change, as Shelley was introduced to a more subtle way of finding pleasure, relaxation and purpose in her life.
She has since dedicated more than 20 years of her life to that path, theatre and dance. At six years old Shelley-Ann joined the Wolmer's Prep dance group under the guidance of Adrian Fletcher and Barbara McDaniel.
GENESIS
This, she said, was where her genesis in dancing took place. "Based on the Wolmer's partnership, Barbara then found the Wolmer's Dance Troupe of which I became a founding member and dance captain and it was there that I got my start as a choreographer at age 13," Maxwell said.
After 18 it was time to move on, as it was not practical for young adults to be dancing with five year olds, and so the Xamayca Dance Company was formed. "The members of the Wolmer's Dance Troupe had moved on and have now developed into the Xamayca Dance company," she said. Again, she was instrumental in the Company's birth and development, becoming one of its founding members and rehearsal director.
However, Maxwell says she recently resigned from Xamayca, relinquishing all positions, as she felt that she needed more growth.
"I needed to explore my choreographic skills on a wider scale and also my artistic vision, as I one day hope to have my own dance company," a confident and relaxed Maxwell explained.
Maxwell is one of those persons who dares to explore her options, even at the risk of losing it all. While attending the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona Campus, Maxwell says she made the decision to cut her tenure short, as she could no longer suppress her urge to pursue a full-time career in dancing.
SCIENTIST
"I was studying to become an actuarial scientist, but while I was at UWI I was part of the Dance Society and until this day, it is one of the most fulfilling dance experiences that I've had," she said.
In explaining her decision to drop her studies and pursue dancing, Maxwell says she found that she was spending very little time on her schoolwork, as she could always be found in the Creative Arts Centre (now Philip Sherlock Centre for the Creative Arts) at UWI.
"I would eat, sleep, study and do everything in the theatre, while the only time persons saw me over Nat. Sci. (Faculty of Natural Sciences) was when I had classes," she recalled. Maxwell says her time spent with the UWI Dance Society was one of the most fruitful times of her life, as she learnt a lot and interacted with many theatre/dance luminaries. Among them were L'Antoinette Stines (L'Acadco), Patsy Ricketts (NDTC), Howard Daley (formerly of L'Acadco), Joseph Robinson (Ashe) and Milton Sterling (formerly of NDTC, now deceased).
FRUITFUL EXPERIENCES
"This is why UWI was one of my most fruitful experiences in dance, because I was able to explore and experience different dance techniques and this lead to my interest in going abroad to do summer programmes with schools like the Alvin Aieley Centre (New York) and numerous dance studios in London," she said.
In 1998, Maxwell went on to further her scope and experience by attending 'La Escuela Nacional de Danza' (National School of Dance) in Cuba.
"What Cuba really brought to the table for me was honing my dance capabilities and skills," Maxwell said, saying that upon her return to Jamaica, her body had become this beautiful instrument with all her techniques on form.
After reaching a comfort zone where her dance skills and techniques were concerned, Maxwell decided that she should take some time off to actually complete a degree, as no one can tell what surprises the future might hold.
Maxwell graduated with first class honours from the Munro College in New York, after she had received a scholarship in Jamaica while attending the Institute of Management Sciences (IMS).
DEGREE
Now, with a degree in Management Information Systems, Maxwell was only too eager to get back to living her dream, that of being a dancer, choreographer and probably everything else to do with living her dream the creative arts way.
In keeping with this dream, Maxwell is currently doing some choreography work with L'Acadco, as she recently completed a piece for the company's 21st anniversary season, which makes its Kingston debut this weekend, entitled 'Afuera De La Caja' (Outside Of The Box). Maxwell spoke of the piece with great enthusiasm, as if caught up in the rush of her own imaginative world.
"This piece is depicting the struggles that we have as human beings and after journeying outside of the box, they find that they are still in a box and find that in fact everything is an ongoing cycle," she said. In addition to this, Maxwell has also done choreography work on Tony Wilson's shows, as well as works for the Elizabeth Vickers Dance Studio and the Edna Manley College.
Currently, Maxwell continues to explore her choreographic skills and artistry through the different dance companies and is also a teacher in Modern Dance at the Edna Manley College. Maxwell says she hopes to one day do a Masters Degree in Choreography at a school in London but, in the meantime, she continues to make a name for herself, doing choreography for music videos like the 98 Degrees music video medley, among other outstanding pieces of work, showing that she is in tune with stage and street.
