-for Kelton Jennings this expressive art form is a universal language

LOCAL choreographer, Kelton Jennings, is a force of positive energy when it comes to dance.

His passion and interest in this expressive art form was sparked several years ago, after he participated in the first reality television show to hit Guyana, ‘Guyana Star’.

After receiving positive feedback, Jennings enrolled in the National School of Dance and at the same time was part of the Dominion Dance group.

Jennings, who is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Unique Arts Entertainment began teaching dance around age 17 in Berbice.

For him dancing is a universal language. “It tells stories. It changes lives. It helps to motivate. So, it is a language in my opinion,” he explained.

He related to the Buzz that when he started Unique Arts it wasn’t only to dance, but it was more for the arts. “I wanted to put all three disciplines in one and find one name. Since I was already in Mashramani competition teaching, I started off with a group at St. Agnes Primary. Sixteen young children…I taught them for the Mashramani competition and then the parents. After this, I decided that we’re going to continue doing this. And that’s where Unique Arts was birthed. I started and I continued and we started doing production after production dealing with teenage pregnancies, child abuse, trafficking,” he said.

According to Jennings, the productions brought together dance, drama, and song. All this was happening around 2008.

At present, Unique Arts has more than 100 dancers who are scattered around the Caribbean, specifically Jamaica, Trinidad, Suriname, and Guyana, and in the United States.

He noted that he is most proud of his productions. “My biggest achievement is the growth of my production and the message that I am trying to send to the world. Different messages; things like choreography. When someone comes up and says, I see what you are doing and I understand and I felt it, it gives me a sense of fulfillment. So, telling stories in my production and having it go to this magnitude, I would say is my biggest achievement. One of my biggest achievements.”

Added to this, he said it was always a dream of his to travel the world. He recently represented Guyana on the international stage at a folk festival in New York. The event is an annual celebration that highlights the achievements of Guyanese and Jennings travelled with 16 performers this time around.

He related that they are currently preparing for their Christmas production.

“Our date hasn’t been set as yet, but it will be in December. Next year, our calendar is already booked up to August. We were invited to Atlanta in the US to do a show. Also, to Arizona to do a show. And we are heading back to the folk festival again next year. So, that is the plan for the future of the production. And we continue our work, which is Kaya, with Africa, uniting the Caribbean.”

Jennings pointed out that one of things he has been doing to change the cultural part of the dance industry locally, is to take some 27 persons to dance in Jamaica through the CSME programme. This he said was done in 2022.

“So, that is a change that I have been making. And I have been doing productions in schools, Mashramani competitions. But looking around the arena, there have been improvements in some areas and some areas need more attention I should say. When I say attention, I mean in terms of the arts. We want persons to pay more attention to the art form; that is a part of a child’s growth, having to express their own whether through dance, or whatever,” he remarked before adding that this goes hand-in-hand with academics.

“To persons that have a dream, just go do it. There will be negative comments. There will be disappointing days. There will be days that you want to give up. But my keywords that I’ve been using for the past 15 years is patience and persistency. Those are the two words that kept me pushing. So, I would advise persons to exercise patience. Everything will not happen overnight…keep going.”

Parents who might be interested in sending their children to Unique Arts can contact the CEO at jennings895@gmail.com or on 619-6195.