Contributed
Shelley-Ann Maxwell and Kevin Moore in Rex Nettleford's 'The Crossing'.

Sadeke Brooks, Staff Reporter

Dancer Kevin Moore thought he had accomplished his dream when he joined the New York-based Garth Fagan Dance, but his experiences there proved otherwise, forcing him to return to his roots at the National Dance Theatre Company (NDTC).

Moore says he became part of Garth Fagan Dance in 2005, after he completed a first degree in dance at the State University of New York in Brockport (SUNY Brockport). He says he gained valuable experience there, but the bad experiences forced him to stop.

"That's basically your life. It's a full-time job that you do every day, eight hours for the day and you are paid a salary ... I didn't feel comfortable. I really wanted to teach. There was a lot of politics and it was not working out financially," said 32-year-old Moore.

Disadvantages

He says he grew stronger as a dancer, but dancing eight hours per day had its disadvantages, especially when he had to keep a strict diet.

"I had a lot of injuries and I was overworked ... Garth Fagan loved skinny dancers, so they call you fat and they want you to go on a diet. These people have no mercy," he said.

He says he was always being criticised, so it was a big accomplishment when Fagan complimented him on his improvement in dance.

"My greatest accomplishment there was to hear Garth Fagan say I had improved. I was always getting criticisms from him, so to hear him say 'good job' was a big accomplishment. I was even getting lead roles, but I thought it was time to leave; so I left Garth Fagan Dance feeling good about myself," said Moore, who ended his two-year stint at the company in 2007.

He says he is grateful for the opportunities he got while at Garth Fagan Dance, as he went to Italy, Hawaii, Germany and many states in the United States of America. He says he also learned valuable techniques and styles of dance that he brought back to the NDTC.

Love for dance

Before going to SUNY Brockport, Moore was enrolled at the Edna Manley College School of Dance. There, he studied dance theatre production because he always had a love for dance.

"I loved dancing from I was a child, because I always loved to move. I really thought about becoming a professional dancer when I went to see Cathy Levy's Applause. I was bowled over and said this is what I want to do," Moore told The Sunday Gleaner.

He says he became a member of the Cathy Levy Players after his sixth audition. As a Cathy Levy player he did singing, dancing, puppetry, miming and sign language.

Since becoming a dancer, Moore says he cannot imagine himself not dancing even when he is injured.

When he returned to Jamaica in 2007 he went back to the NDTC, where he got most of his initial training and was most comfortable.

"It has been amazing and inspiring. I am dancing on the same stage with my teachers. It has been very rewarding and dance has changed my life. I have accomplished so much through dance. The company has helped me to develop as a person and as a dancer," said Moore.

He compared NDTC to Garth Fagan Dance, saying at the latter "they talk down to you. At NDTC people don't talk down to you; we share".

Professional experience

At NDTC he did Rex Nettleford's The Crossing and Odyssey, Rivero's Sulkari and Arlene Richards' Renewal of the Spirit. He also choreographed the Little Theatre pantomime Combolo in 2003 and Nuff and Plenty in 2007.

In addition to working with NDTC, Moore teaches Caribbean Traditional Folk and Theory at Edna Manley College. He also teaches at Meadowbrook High School, St John The Baptist Preparatory and the University of the West Indies Dance Society.

Moore says he wants to do a master's degree in cultural studies at the UWI next year.