Simone Mc Shine:Moved by faith

Founded in 2015 right off the heels of Simone’s completion of her BA in Dance and Dance Education at the UWI, the Academy is a manifestation of Simone’s belief in God and His ministry through her.

At the age of 16 she was invited to a church service by a family friend, and thus her faith and destiny in dance unraveled. Of this defining moment she says, “That day, I saw other teenagers my age lifting their hands and worshipping and praising somebody they didn’t even see or know. I remember that day deciding to do something different with my life. I was saved that day.” Attending church every Sunday after this first visit, she also became enchanted with her church’s dance ministry and was in constant awe of the performers’ grace and poise: “I would be so moved by how they expressed themselves… the expressions on their faces. I thought they do this so well and I want this, but I didn’t know how to make the first step.” Before this, dance had never struck her as a personal interest, given her personality type. “To me, everybody in the arts had to have some kind of brave side and I was clearly the opposite. I was very shy, very introverted,” she says of the fears within her that held her back initially. While the desire burned in her, she was still left unsure about her own entrance into this new art form she was so enraptured by.

But divine intervention was not too far behind to push her in the right direction. She describes having visions of herself – while in bed every Sunday morning at 5 am before church – in all white, dancing most gracefully and confidently. “I would go into this trance and I would see myself dancing – having no training, no nothing.” These visions eventually propelled her to join her church’s dance ministry where her first training began. Still shy and a little unsure, she remembers her eyes being glued to the ground during her first solo dance performance. “I was very shy, but God took that and molded it into something that it was supposed to be,” she says.

This was the launch pad for her career in dance, as she knows it today. After joining her church’s dance ministry, she also entered the Caribbean School of Dance as well as Renaissance Dance Company. Here she honed her technique and learned from students and teachers alike, as well as took part in years of missionary work.

On her journey to further improve her craft and knowledge, she decided to pursue dance educationally as most of her training had been practical at that time. “Apart from the physical learning, I wanted to be well rounded. And every time I would train or follow the [educational] aspect of dance, it was as if God was opening doors for me,” she says.

She even recalls attending a women’s rally early on in her dance education and a pastor prophesising the work she does today: “He told me I would excel in the arts and uplift others in that way. And he’s speaking these things and I’m like ‘okay, this is so opposite of who I am’,” she says of the personal doubts she was yet to overcome. “I was still waking myself up at that point and I didn’t think ‘dance academy’ in my head; that was the furthest thing from my mind.” Yet, during this same period she was visiting different churches across the country and imparting the skills she had learned at the Caribbean School of Dance and Renaissance to their dance ministries. This sharing of knowledge and teaching, though she did not know it then, were the first rumblings of the Academy that bears her name today.

While keeping a full time job, Simone enrolled in the Dance and Dance Education BA program at the UWI – still with no official goal for her future in dance in mind. Her course of study touched on the origin of dance in TT, the introduction and histories of African and East Indian dance on our shores, and courses that focused on both the theoretical and practical aspects of dance.

Soon after her degree’s completion, she entered an introspective period. Quite on a whim, she came across an advertisement in a newspaper, offering a studio space for rent. “At every point, God kept opening doors for me,” she says, adding that upon viewing the studio space she knew it was a right fit. “My landlords even said, ‘You know Simone, you don’t have to pay the full rent right away.’ They even offered to hand our flyers for me.”

The space, with wooden floors, glass mirrors, stage lighting, and an adjoining office was perfect and finally, Simone was ready to step into the role that seemed to be designed for her. In March of 2015, her Academy opened its doors to a swell of supporters and students. “People came from east, west, north, south. They didn’t know who Simone Mc Shine was but they still came,” she says, which further cemented her faith that this was God’s plan for her.

Today, her school has between 60 to 70 students of all ages, some of whom are above the age of 50, proving that dance is not limited to any generation. She works alongside 11 trained instructors and offers ballroom, hip-hop, jazz, modern, tap, and cultural dancing (just to name a few). She hopes in the future to expand her genre listing as well as take on as many as 120 students.

Her Academy also hosts a yearly production in March. Next year’s theme is “Fallen”, while the 2017 theme was “En Su Presencia” (In His Presence), which will be having a one-night encore at the Little Carib Theatre on July 22 at 7PM. She prefers such productions as opposed to entering her students in dance competitions, as she believes the competitive aspect can detract from the purity of the art form.

“One of the most important things I wanted to do after I finished my degree was to impact my community – if that meant through dance and choreography, I would do it. But I didn’t realise the school would’ve been the ideal thing,” she says of the fulfillment her creative work gives her.

But while she believes most people have an appreciation for dance, she doesn’t think most grasp an understanding of it. She likens the act of performing as birthing a child, a gift to the public so that some can be moved and ministered. “I think for somebody to come to an understanding of dance, they have to be more involved in it,” she says. “Not just support, but actually take the time to truly take it in and be a part of the process.”

In her own way, she is elevating the local landscape as best she can. While she says some view “church dancers” as not being technically sound, she is living proof that this is not a true or fair assessment. With years of experience as well as formal training under her belt, she is bringing her unique offerings to the table.

“I think everybody in the world brings a unique flavour of who they are and that is what comes to life through art. The moments when you’re drowning that person or rejecting that person [within], it’s like the flame is not given chance to shine.

“I think my story in itself is a testimony,” she continues, reflecting on how far she has come as a performer and a woman, from her quiet and shy shell to the principal director at her very own dance academy. “You may not have a passion for something right away… but you can grow into it and become one with it. If you love it, give it 100%.”

You may visit “Simone Mc Shine Academy of Dance” on Facebook or call 498-9356 for further information.