Young Performing Arts Extraordinaire

IN the performing arts, it’s all about the cameras, the lights, the runways and the stages. The aim is to capture the hearts of your fans

In cardiac electrophysiology, it’s all about monitors, operating rooms and surgeries. And the aim is to maintain the well-being of the hearts of your patients.

The two fields might appear to be worlds apart, but 16-year-old Shanice Henry is determined to wedge herself between both and create a name for herself. She is an aspiring model, actress, dancer AND cardiac electrophysiologist.

“The reason I want to become a model/actress/ dancer or just technically a public figure is that these are forms of self-expression like I’ve never experienced before,” she related and added also that these forms of expression just come naturally for her.

But she’s in the Science Stream and is gunning to be a cardiac electrophysiologist, which is basically someone who deals with diagnosing and treating the electrical activities of the heart.

Henry is currently a Fifth Form student at Queen’s College. This means that in a few short months she will be writing her 13 chosen subjects at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Examinations.

While she is in the Science stream, she borrowed a few subjects from the arts/humanities stream in an attempt to fulfill her insatiable desire to be part of the performing arts. Theatre Arts is one of her favourite borrowed subjects since, according to her, it provides a platform and an outlet for her to express herself.

Life at Queen’s College has not been limited to sticking her head in her books most of the time and only stopping every now and then for theatre arts, but it has opened up many opportunities for her to ‘perform’.

“Being with my best friends every day, it always like there are lights, cameras and action- so it feels like I’m acting all the time,” she related.

Aside from that though, for the past few years, she highlighted that she has tried to involve herself in almost every activity that requires modelling, acting or dancing.

Participating in activities like the inter-schools’ Mashramani dance competitions and even closer to home at the Queen’s College Fashion Show (as one of the feature models) and at the school’s Christmas concert as the highlight dancer and major actress have allowed her to garner some exposure. She has also modelled several times privately and for her church.

Henry was also majorly involved in a full-length play called ‘Broken Chains’ (a plantation-era story), organised by the Renisons Creative Arts (RCA). The play comprised of an all-Berbician cast performing for their home audience.

For her, when she steps on the runway, it’s not just about looking pretty. With each strut, she radiates an enviable confidence and every pose, her poise must be perfect. She might be modelling in a Sonia Noel piece but in her own skin, she is a masterpiece.

And you might always catch her dancing in one of her many high-heeled shoes, never without elegance but always with her own flare.

While many would say that she has done a great job at juggling her academics and other love, she said, “I feel like people underestimate my abilities or I can’t develop myself as much as I want to, because I’m limited to what people want for me.”

She explained that there is the perception or stereotype, that a profession in the performing arts is not as respectable as a profession in medicine or the sciences.

With Beyonce as her main inspiration and Gabrielle Union as her role model, Shanice aims to be an internationally recognised figure, garnering her fame abroad, but she also mentioned, “I plan to add to the development of the local industry.”

For her though, she is more comfortable with the creative arts and is just a bit hesitant about being responsible for saving someone’s life, but she is striving to pursue both fields as she cannot choose one over the other.

While she is still striving for her goals, Henry stated, “I would like to encourage other aspiring actors and actresses, to build on their talents and abilities by joining the local industries… so that it can be transformed into a globally recognized platform.”

Doing what you love, she also said, is one of the keys to a healthy life.