Latineos - Latin America, Caribbean, arts, culture

When we think of the future, it is natural to contemplate our youth, whether past or present. One of my greatest accomplishments during my pre-adolescent years was my starring role in a dance performance at my elementary or primary school (as we say in Jamaica) when I was 8 years old. I remember now, 19 years later, the final rehearsal… pacing the steps, feeling the hot concrete on my bare feet, as I wore my big sister’s long, blue nightgown as my costume. The dance was choreographed in the spirit of a revivalist experience. It was an exciting time for me – head wrapped with a colourful scarf, anchored by two No.2 pencils on either temple. The tricky part about this last rehearsal was that I would not do the final, most electrifying segment of the Pocomania-flavoured piece on the burning, concrete, open-air platform.

A Word on the Work:
I wrote this piece one morning after taking a taxi from Spanish Town to Kingston en route to the University of the West Indies. I don’t normally take public transportation so the experience was very shocking and disturbing. Jamaicans have a saying, made popular by Louise Bennett-Coverley. The saying is “tek kin teet kibba haat bun” which literally means “use your smile to conceal your heartache”.