THE esteemed talents, dazzling gifts, and unique personality of some people make them absolute standouts. One young lady who has been chalking up notable points in the USA, and is proud to declare that her parents — George and Marlenel — are both from Georgetown, Guyana is Shakira Marshall, also known as “Kira” (her stage name).Shakira is an artist, dancer, singer, actor, choreographer, writer and model who was born and raised in Queens, New York. She is the youngest of five children, and is a woman of substance; in every sense of the word.

Recently, Kira came “home” to Guyana for the first time, and had the honour of participating in Guyana Fashion Week, where she hosted the Red Carpet events; modelled some of the amazing creations; facilitated a performing arts workshop for young artistes; and even had opportunity to perform her new single, “Push Back”, during the final night of Fashion Week festivities.

Kira, as she is more popularly known, began her professional training at the tender age of four, taking disciplines such as tap, jazz, ballet, modern, acrobatics, Afro-Caribbean, traditional West African and hip-hop, which have proved to refine her versatile abilities. She joined the children’s choir at Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in Cambria Heights, New York (she also attended the school) while simultaneously taking on private piano and vocal lessons. Kira received her teacher training, and her career took her to many institutions, including Dance ‘Studio A’, Perfection Dance Center, The Edge School of the Arts (ESOTA), and the Alvin Ailey and Broadway Dance Center.

In High School, Kira was an honours student. She became the member of two New York-based dance companies: Queenz Finest, a hip-hop dance company, and KECDE (The Kerri Edge Children’s Dance Ensemble). These companies afforded her a lot of experience, and cultivated her love for performance and travel.

Kira continued her studies at SUNY Purchase College, where she obtained a B.A. in Media, Society and the Arts. During her tenure at Purchase, Kira saw the disunity among Caribbean students on campus. She was very passionate about creating a forum for these displaced students to find aid, share their experiences, and build as a community. This vibrant young woman founded the first Caribbean club S.O.C.A. an acronym for students of Caribbean ancestry. During her term as president, the immediately became a major success.

Being the most popular club on campus, it won many awards for community service and for outstanding creative programming, and is still in existence to this day. S.O.C.A. began Kira’s affinity for giving back to her Caribbean community through art. It was also during this time that Kira booked her first professional gig as a featured dancer in Elephant Man’s music video for “Pon De River”. As she continued to book gigs, her love for teaching dance became stronger. In order to satisfy that desire, she began teaching at several dance institutions in New York and New Jersey, including her elementary school, where she started a liturgical dance troupe.

In 2009, Kira made her Broadway debut with the groundbreaking three-time Tony Award winning musical FELA! In 2011, the entire Broadway cast was invited to Nigeria to perform the show.

Kira is currently a member of the international touring company, and had the honor of returning to Broadway with this hit show for a brief run during the summer of 2012.

Some of her recent projects include recording her debut album, running Soca Sirens, a Caribbean entertainment group that Kira created and directs artistically, singing background in The Fela Band; and choreographing for the annual West Indian American Day Parade in Brooklyn, N.Y.

You may also have witnessed her choreography and dancing with Caribbean Queen Alison Hinds for live shows and music videos.

Additional credits and places you may have seen Kira are at: MTV MADE (Hip-Hop coach); Quest love’s Afro pick’s singing background vocals for grammy award winning lead vocalist Macy Gray (Paris); Stephen Marley “Out Of Africa” (singing background vocals).

Kira choreographed Jill Scott/Maxwell Tour 2010, Alison Hinds World Tour, Daisha (recording artist) Reborn video. She has also performed on stage and in music videos with artists such as Beyonce, N*E*R*D*, Sean Paul, Elephant Man, Machel Montano, Tami Chynn, Eve, Strategy the Energy Band (Kirk Brown). She has performed and taught many dance workshops all over America and internationally, including in St. Maarten (Art Saves Lives Foundation), Nigeria, Barbados (Dance Strides), Jamaica, The Dominican Republic, Denmark and England.

When Kira travels, she makes it her mission to share her talent and learn the culture of the people through music and dance. As she continues in her career, Kira hopes to do more television and movies. Her long-term goals include creating a Guyanese arts foundation/cultural exchange programme for young aspiring artists. Kira wants to provide students access to professionals who are in the arts and have been successful in their respective careers.
Written By Alex Wayne