As a youngster attending Kingston College, Christopher Walker had a little interest in dance, but he did not dream that he would one day be a renowned choreographer and dancer.

He describes his early life in St Thomas as "fantastic". It was during then that he was first exposed to Jamaican traditional dance forms and worship, including dinki-mini, tambu and Revivalism. However, he never received formal one-on-one training.

Luckily, before his grandfather died, he taught Chris Walker the movements and meanings associated the with the dance forms, as well as the accompanying songs. Although Walker was only 11 years old, the lessons stuck with him and fuelled his interest in dance.

"I became interested in traditional dance forms when I was a child. I had curly hair and was teased incessantly and so I felt that it was necessary to assert my blackness by being a good dancer, by knowing Anancy stories, proverbs and folk tales. I also prided myself in knowing the forbidden 'Big Bwoy' stories," Walker told The Sunday Gleaner.

stronger love

"That love for cultural forms grew stronger as I grew older, so when theatre and formal dance became a reality for me, many things I was interested in as a child made sense and began to inform how I negotiate the formal spaces."

After leaving high school, Walker attended Brown's Town Community College in St Ann. There, he joined a performance group called Afro-Caribbean Exposure which incorporated dance into their productions, staged at north coast hotels. Walker also joined the Movements Dance Theatre Company, where he received further training.

But he did not feel sufficiently equipped, so he went to Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts (EMCVPA) in 1997 and did a diploma in dance.

Christopher Walker takes flight in his own choreography 'Tenki Sah'.

He left his job as a real estate agent to pursue the programme.

He could afford his first year's tuition and managed to survive financially by working in Ocho Rios as a choreographer and artistic director for fashion shows and concerts.

Although Walker was worried about his decision to study, his quest to was also aided by scholarships and assistance from the National Dance Theatre Company (NDTC), which he joined while at EMCVPA.

Walker later studied at the State University of New York (at Brockport), where he received bachelor's and master's of fine arts degrees. He taught there for two years and in early 2004 received the highest award in the Thayer Fellowship in the arts competition in New York and a certificate of merit from the American Theatre Festival Association for his choreography of Once On This Island for Brockport's Department of Theatre.

Dance Workshops

He has also taught Caribbean Dance Workshops in Jamaica, England and the United States and conducted several successful artistic residencies at universities, including Hobart and Williams Smith colleges and Temple University.

During his time abroad, Walker founded and was the artistic director for VOICES, a dance company exploring the fusion of Caribbean dance and contemporary styles, using the traditional stage, alternate spaces and multimedia.

Walker has toured the United Kingdom, United States, Canada and the Caribbean with the NDTC, performing in several cities.

But in all of his travels and experiences, Walker felt the need to return home.

In September 2004, he began teaching at EMCVPA, but only stayed for one academic year. He still works at the college as a consultant in the Department of Folk and Traditional Studies.

Recently, Christopher Walker was appointed assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison), where he had been a lecturer for two years.

"This new position is undoubtedly my largest career achievement. The other major achievement is to work with the NDTC as a dance captain," said Walker, who is the artistic director for the hip-hop theatre programme at UW-Madison.

clear methodologies

He says for a teacher to be able to teach dance fully, he or she must have clear methodologies, aims and objectives. "As a teacher, it is for me to understand music and teach my students how to understand music. That is why education is important. A lot of people are phenomenal dancers, but not great teachers. You have to understand the complexities of dance," said Walker, who lauded Professor Rex Nettleford as one of the best teachers he has had.

In his current position at UW-Madison, Walker hopes "to build and maintain a relationship between the Jamaican dance and theatre spaces".

Walker also wants to help the Jamaican dance community by formalising a student and faculty exchange programme and building cultural and artistic relations between UW-Madison and Jamaica.

"Naturally, I will continue to contribute to the work of the NDTC through continued academic and artistic investigations into the traditional and early contemporary works and returning home for the season, working as dance captain, choreographer and dancer," said Walker, who is currently in Jamaica to participate in the NDTC's 46th Season of Dance.