Maria Hitchins advocates for dancehall dance

Standing up for the dancehall cultures and supporting dancehall dancers within that community is a mission for Maria Hitchins.

Dancing since she was just three years old, Hitchins has spent more than three decades making movement with companies, in theatres, competitions, the streets, and, most recently, the classroom.

"Dance has remained an active part of my life ever since I started, even when I studied and worked in other areas such as tourism, marketing and media production," she told THE WEEKEND STAR.

She blazed trails as the ultimate performer with dance companies like Tony Wilson's Dance Centre, Jamaica Musical Theatre Company and The University of the West Indies Dance Society. She toured France with Shaggy, performing in massive stadiums, and experiencing the first-world production that accompanies such a global star.

Locally, performing on major shows such as Sumfest and working alongside several artistes and dancers, while choreographing for TV shows such as In The Dance - where each episode had at least 200 dancers - also rank high on her achievement list.

Her industry resume is long on and off the stage. She has made appearances in music videos for artistes like General B, Wayne Marshall, Bling Dawg and Bounty Killer. Her choreography has also been featured in television commercials.

Teaching

These days, however, she prefers teaching. "Usually, with performances the show ends and the audience leaves, but with teaching you get to have discussions and hear their perspectives," she said.

Growing up, none of her dance teachers taught dancehall dance. She only discovered the art form because of her older cousins and their friends. She found it hard to accept that something created in Jamaica wasn't as privileged as the modern jazz and ballet.

"Later, whenever I would choreograph, I chose to do dancehall, not because I couldn't do folk or anything else, but I sought to privilege it, and further when I undertook a Master of Philosophy at The University of the West Indies, Mona campus, naturally, I researched Jamaican street dancers."

Hitchins is a firm believer that the culture clubs need to be mandatory in schools. "Our children need to do more than the once-a-year project on an artiste for Heritage Day," said the woman who currently teaches a dancehall dance as a course at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts' School of Dance.

"I want to leave a legacy of living examples to show that there is value in the cultural expressions that our people create, and I think I am on my way in doing so by having created the first tertiary accredited course in the region for dancehall dance, over five years ago."