Dance X returns with Dallas Black and Belize’s Jamie Thompson among performers

For the second time, NICH will be hosting Dance X and this year, it is dedicated to the Mayas. One of the big attractions will be performances by Jamie Thompson, who is from the Dallas Black Dance Theatre. Thompson’s dancing career started from his schooldays in Belize and he made it big when he moved to the US to study. News Five’s Isani Cayetano has a preview of what you can expect at the upcoming festival.

Isani Cayetano, Reporting

Masks, the theme for Dance X 2012, is a celebration in honor of the year of the Maya.  The four-day festival, the highlight of which promises to be a performance by the acclaimed Dallas Black Dance Theater, begins with a forum on Wednesday night.

Shari Williams, Communications Officer, NICH

Shari Williams

“This year the theme is Masks, and so all the dancers performing on stage will showcase some kind of mask in their dances.  This year we have national and international dancers and groups coming from all over the country, as well as from abroad.  It kicks off tomorrow night at seven p.m. with a forum.  We have a panel of dancers from Belize, who will be having a discussion based on traditional dance to taking it on the stage.  So there’s the forum on Wednesday night.  On Thursday night it begins at eight p.m. and it’s free of cost to the general public.  We have the Ballet de Quintana Roo group from Mexico portraying their stuff on stage on Thursday.  So anybody can come.  Just come, grab a seat and enjoy the show.”

Fans of the famed, international troupe, however, will have to shell out a few bucks to see Belizean dancer Jamie Thompson on stage.  The Dallas Black Dance Theater is on its second visit to Belize, having attended last year’s festival.

Shari Williams

“On Friday, again it’s eight p.m., [it’s] twenty dollars.  We have a wide range of dancers, we have the PGK Dance Group, Ugundani Dancers, the Ballet Art School, the Belize National Dance Company, the New Generation Dance Company, Safira Pelayo and Ubagari Dance Group.  So you can see a wide range of different types of dances on the stage at the Bliss and it continues again on Saturday night.  One of the features of this year’s Dance X is the Dallas Black Dance Theater and they’re one of the leading dance companies in the U.S. They were here last year and they are here again, back by popular demand we brought them back because they did such a fantastic job last year.  The main person that everybody came out to see last year was Jamie Thompson, who is a Belizean.  He was in the Belize National Dance Company, working at the Institute of Creative Arts and later was invited to join the Dallas Black Dance Theater.  So definitely we have a fun-filled four days of activities and dances non-stop.”

Tickets for Dance X 2012 can be purchased at the Bliss Center.