Contributed
Jacqueline Logan-Palmer in 'Body Riddems To Bob'.

Sadeke Brooks, Staff Reporter

Although employed full-time to the Finance Ministry and being a mother, Jacqueline Logan-Palmer still finds enough time to dance with L'Acadco Dance Company.

While Jacqueline admits that she gets tired from trying to perform well in her multiple roles, she is determined to become a better dancer.

"Every year I am retiring and they laugh at me. I do get tired because I work hard as a mother and housewife and I am coming here (L'Acadco) to dance. I do ask for time off to rest because I really need to rest, but I just come back to dance," she told The Sunday Gleaner.

She added: "I don't want to deny my son (now seven years old) quality time with me, but I still have a burning passion to dance."

Strong passion

So strong is this passion that eight months after giving birth to her son (through a Caesarean section), she was dancing in Los Angeles, United States, with L'Antoinette Stines of L'Acadco.

Even though she took time off from the art while doing her MBA in social sciences at the University of the West Indies, she still returned to dance with L'Acadco.

Logan-Palmer's interest in dance started when she was attending St Theresa Preparatory School. She remembers visiting her friend Simone Lee and attending dance class with her. She saw the little girls doing ballet in their tights and immediately she wanted to dance.

After the young Jacqueline told her single mother about her new-found interest, her mother's friend informed them about the School of Dance, then operating from the Little Theatre. By the end of her first term there, Jacqueline had received a scholarship to do free lessons.

Discouragement

With her strong love for dance, it is almost unbelievable that someone could lessen her interest in the art. But a new teacher at the school discouraged Jacqueline from continuing her dream.

"There was a point at which I did not want to dance. I had a teacher that questioned why I got the lead roles. I was always in front and I was now being placed at the back. They used to bash me and call me robot. I was not too keen to go back. Furthermore, I was dancing there all my life and I was becoming a young lady," said Jacqueline who is from Fletchers Land, Kingston.

Her next move was L'Acadco. Since starting there in 1987, Logan-Palmer has been dancing with the company. In addition to her love of dance, Logan-Plamer was drawn to L'Antoinette Stines' passion.

"What I like about L'Acadco is that the choreography is always interesting and the pieces challenge you as a dancer," Logan-Palmer said.

Explosive pieces

She added: "L'Antoinette is a very passionate dancer. Her pieces are expressive and explosive. I am relatively comfortable, but I challenge myself because I don't think I have grown enough."

This lack of growth, she says, may be because Jamaica does not provide the opportunity for people to be full-time dancers. Instead, dancers must find other employment to survive financially.

Having danced for more than two decades, there are things that Jacqueline Logan-Palmer cannot remember about her long career. However, she has toured many countries, including Ghana, England, Canada, United States, Cuba, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and the Cayman Islands. In addition, she has been featured in music videos, commercials, a movie and various shows.

Her accomplishments have been many, but Jacqueline Logan-Palmer believes one of the biggest was L'Antoinette Stines asking her to be part of a four-member team to present her dance techniques as part of her PhD at a university in Pennsylvania.