BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – AS one of her fundraising efforts to compete in the prestigious Miss World Pageant in Vietnam, Miss World St. Kitts and Nevis 2010 Fatisha Imo is hosting a dance workshop dubbed “I Feel Like Dancing”.
The first workshop was held on July 5-9 and a second one will start tomorrow (Jul. 12) and end on Friday, July 16. The workshop is aimed at providing a positive dance environment that will allow participants to reach his or her highest potential. It will provide high quality instructions in all facets of dance, modelling, fashion and pageant consultancy.
The workshop is also said to promote self-worth, confidence, teamwork and lifetime achievements, which would benefit students in all areas of education and leadership.
At the first workshop, Imo taught the participants several types of dances, including Afro/Caribbean, Lyrical, Jazz, Contemporary and Hip-Hop, and also modelling, fashion and makeup.
She has recently completed a modeling workshop with Lu Sierra in New York, who is said to be one of the best runway coaches in the world. Sierra is a supermodel coach for Miss USA & Miss Universe, trainer of FORD’s Super Model of The World winners and also one of Elite Model Management top talents, as well as coach to many other world renowned modelling agencies.
At about 2:00 p.m. on Friday, July 9, dancers took to the Independence Square, where they performed four of the six types of dances that they learned at the workshop.
Imo said that dancing in The Square was a test titled “What are you afraid of”.
“Most dancers are afraid of dancing in public and on big productions onstage, so it was an event organised to test their ability and see how they would handle it…I think they did well,” she said. “We also had similar a exercise where they were dancing in a street, and that also went well.”
SKNVibes spoke with several of the participants, who said that the workshop was a fun and learning experience.
Siovhan Phipps, 15, said the workshop has helped to build her self-esteem and taught her leadership and team work skills.
“Most of our challenges were in groups, so we had to work together on a time limit. In terms of leadership, there are different leaders and it showed how they can come together and control a group.
“We also had to do stuff by ourselves like design T-shirts and model them, and that helped to bring out our individuality and personality.”
Earlyn Pierre, also 15, said the workshop was a form of exercise for her and it produced lots of fun, meeting new people and learning new dances; while Crystal Glasford, another 15-year-old, said everyone came together in a loving and kind way and learned how to stand out in a group.
“We all interacted well. There was no mean person or competition among us, it was fun…the whole thing was a wonderful experience. We gain confidence, we learn how to work in groups and also about our unique styles,” said Glasford.
In terms of preparation for the pageant, the ‘Beauty with a Purpose’ contestant said that plans are going well.
“For my costume, I will be bringing a surprise package. This package concerns an aspect of St. Kitts-Nevis culture, and so I am being prepared by a man from Sandy Point and it is going well. I want to thank all those have been assisting me so far with my preparations. I am anxiously looking forward to representing my country in Vietnam,” she said.
For more information on the workshop, Fatisha Imo can be contacted at 664-4439.
