Andrea Douglas
Performing artist, Andrea Douglas, dancer, choreographer, educator and artistic director hails from the city of Georgetown in Guyana, South America. It was there that her career as a dancer began 48 years.
Andrea’s love for dance was observed at the age of six when she was a student at the Stella Maris Prep school. One of the teachers, a Catholic - Sister Costa recognized Andrea’s attraction to rhythm and music, and she kept Andrea busy by teaching her dances. Andrea moved on to Sacred Heart Primary School where she participated in every concert that was presented. Through her passing of the Common Entrance Examination, she was afforded the opportunity to attend St. Joseph’s High School. There, she worked with the late Beryl McBurnie of Trinidad, and performed ‘O Vira’ - a traditional Portuguese dance that was done for Guyana Independence Celebration’s Historical Pageant at the National Park. It was not until the year 1972, after the first Caribbean Festival of Arts (CARIFESTA), the Guyana Government invited Madam Lavinia Williams, a Haitian-American to Guyana to open the Guyana National School of Dance (GNSD). Andrea as a youth, grabbed that opportunity, hence her formal dance training.
As a founding student of the GNSD, Andrea studied dance with instructors such as Madam Lavinia Williams of Haiti, Geraldo Lastra and Eduardo Rivera, both of Cuba. She moved through the class levels quickly and showed promise as she graduated from her dance performer training, as well as the dance teacher’s program. Following this, she was immediately enlisted as a dance instructor at the GNSD. She did this while continuing on her path as a performer.
Andrea was also a founding member of the Guyana National Dance Company (GNDC). With the Company, she performed both locally and internationally across the Caribbean and South America. She became the Company’s first soloist, and one of the main choreographers. She is remembered for her passionate solo performances of Many Rains Ago, Waiting, and the stellar lead as Ole Higue, a Guyanese myth, and Masquerade Queen, one of Guyana’s traditional African folk expressions.
Andrea also taught dance at primary schools in Guyana. She was the founder of a community dance group called The Southkin Dance Theatre (SDT) that was located in one of the city’s needy neighborhoods. It operated every Saturday from 9:00AM to 5:00PM and met the needs of a large group of boys and girls. Along with this group, Andrea guided over 100 young dancers to successful performances at Guyfesta, an annual festival held in Guyana. SDT also performed at community concerts, dance competitions, and ventured out on tours to the Caribbean, specifically to Barbados and St. Lucia.
While involved at all these institutions, Andrea always found ways to enrich her dance knowledge, her technical and performance skills. She attended dance workshops in Trinidad and Tobago where she studied with Caribbean pioneers such as Beryl McBurnie, Noble Douglas, and the late Astor Johnson. She also attended summer dance workshops in Jamaica, (West Indies) where she trained with leading instructors and choreographers: Barbara Requa, the late, Sheila Barnett and the late, celebrated choreographer, Professor Rex Nettleford. In 1985, motivated by the need to grow and explore her artistic passion, Andrea migrated from Guyana to Jamaica, WI.
From 1985 to 1988, Andrea attended The Jamaica School of Dance at Edna Manley College of Visual and Performing Arts. Through this experience, she discovered and explored more of her artistic calling. While performing for the Jamaica School of Dance, she was also assigned to classes in the Junior Department. During this time, she taught in 15 public schools in Kingston, and its suburbs.
After her first performance season, as a dance student with the Jamaica School of Dance, the late Professor Rex Nettleford singled her out and extended an invitation for her to become a supporting dancer with the internationally acclaimed National Dance Theatre Company (NDTC) of Jamaica. It is noteworthy that while studying at the Edna Manley College, Andrea trained and performed in the major repertoire pieces of the NDTC. These dance pieces included Celebrations; Gerebente; The Crossing; Kumina; Sunday Morning; and Dis Poem. Andrea toured and performed with the Company for six Dance Season productions.
In 1988, Andrea graduated from the Edna Manley College and was then accepted at York University in Toronto, Canada where she pursued her master’s degree in Fine Arts in Dance Ethnology. While at York University, Andrea’s strengths as a performer and dance instructor allowed her to take leadership roles in the developing partnerships between the University and schools in the immediate Jane-Finch neighborhood.
Andrea taught Dance elective courses and worked as a teaching assistant with numerous professors in the Dance Department and performed with the York University Dance Ensemble. She was a presenter at workshops and a lecturer who demonstrated at York University and schools in Toronto. Eventually, Andrea became a dance education facilitator with the then North York Board of Education. Later, she achieved the Ontario Teaching Certificate from the University of Toronto that led to her transfer as a qualified academic and performing arts teacher, a nexus to her career as a performer.
In further giving back to her community, as a performing artist, Andrea danced with Dance Caribe Performing Company, the leading Afro-Caribbean dance Companies in Toronto. She was also a freelance performer, choreographer, and instructor for a number of organizations in the community, staging performances for the Miss Guyana/Canada Pageant, the Miss Jamaica-Canada Pageant, and the Miss Caribbean-Canada pageant. She has been the resident choreographer for the Applause Institute Cotillion Ball and The Edge Program Annual Cotillion Ball.
Since 1994, Andrea has been the artistic director of the Children & Youth Dance Theatre of Toronto, a community-based dance academy for marginalized children and youth, which she founded. Her ultimate focus and passion are working with children and youth, as she sees the need for affordable, accessible and structured arts institutions for talented children, especially those who are marginalized. Children and Youth Dance Theatre of Toronto (CYDTT) is a Dance Academy that has its own studio. It was established as a Canadian charitable arts organization and offers daily dance classes in idioms such as Modern, Classical Ballet, Jazz, Afro-Caribbean, Acro and Hip-Hop. Dances are done at recreational and competitive levels. CYDTT also has a Performing Company that has attended and performed at conferences and cultural events in Canada, the US, Germany and Scotland. Under the artistic directorship of Andrea, CYDTT has represented Caribbean-Canada in Mexico, Jamaica and Carifesta 2017 and 2019 - the first ever for Canada.
Andrea has been an educator for 25 years with the Toronto District School Board, where she taught mainly at inner city Elementary and Intermediate schools. Her leadership in the area of learning through the arts strengthened her forte and propelled her as an educator who was different in the ways that she transferred knowledge and skills to her students. In essence, integrative learning where the arts and education merged. She became a Vice Principal, then Principal of Elementary education, and she used this opportunity to establish partnership programs with institutions such as York University, the Canada National Ballet, Woodlinks, and Toronto Argonauts. These partnerships afforded students the opportunity to engage in programs that connected education with other industries and infrastructures for future learning and employment. She was able to establish dance programs in her schools, harnessing the energy and talents of marginalized students in the performing arts and successfully seeing them through to being accepted into Toronto’s top Performing Arts schools.
Andrea has received many accolades for her involvement in educational leadership, and her contributions to arts and culture within the Canadian community. These include recognitions from Toronto District School Board, Caribana, and a number of local Toronto organizations. She is especially proud of two. In 2005, she was awarded by Guyana Cultural Association of New York, Inc. for her outstanding contribution to Guyana’s Culture & Heritage. In 2013, she received Canada’s most prestigious Black Award - The Harry Jerome Award of Excellence in the Arts for her contribution to the arts both locally and globally.