culture
CREATIVE CONVERSATIONS
Catch the show What: Hilton Head Dance Theatre’s The Nutcracker When: November 12-14 & 19-21 Where: The Seahawk Cultural Center Details: hiltonheaddance.com, 843-842-3262
Have a special artistic talent? Step into LOCAL Life’s and the Hilton Head Island Office of Cultural Affairs’ monthly Creative Conversations spotlight. Go to culturehhi.org/portfolio/artist-of-the-month/ to apply or scan this QR code.
Jamal Edwards: Dancer, choreographer, ballet master
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BY CAROLYN MALES
Clad in a black tee and shorts, Jamal Edwards glides across the empty dance studio and heads to the barre. Heels together, he spreads his feet outward into first position and begins the first of a series of warm-up pliés. As he bends his knees and lifts his arms through all five positions, working through elevés and relevés, he concentrates on form, footwork and balance. I can’t help but notice how graceful and powerful his figure appears as it's silhouetted against the stark walls of the room. It’s clearly time to replace my childhood stereotypes of a lean Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake with Edward’s equally elegant yet sturdier physique. Speaking with Edwards, it didn’t take long for me to understand why he’s not only the ballet master and a popular teacher at Hilton Head Dance School but also an intuitive and creative choreographer for the school’s Dance Theatre. As a child and teenager, I too had spent hours in the studio, practicing jetés and chaîné turns. It had taken discipline and skill to learn how to execute those steps. But, it also took a knowledgeable and patient instructor who not only understood the process, but inspired confidence in a student’s ability to learn. Edwards, I would discover, encompasses all of the above. [Q] When did you first realize you wanted to be a dancer/choreographer? [Jamal Edwards] I’m a fifth generation native of Hilton Head, and from a young age I was putting on shows for my grandparents or whomever was coming over. My grandmother also ran Mary’s Christian Day School here on the island. So after school when I was in elementary and middle school, I’d grab my best friend, Sonya Grant, and my brother, Arend, and we’d watch movie musicals. Then we’d try to copy the steps, and I’d make up dances for us. Afterwards when the daycare kids woke up from their naps, it was ... Okay, here we go. We’re going to show you what we did. It was just us up there being silly. The kids loved it. Meanwhile I would go to the library and check out CDs of different ballets and musicals, especially The Nutcracker. And I was always begging my mother to take me to Barnes & Noble so I could buy a Nutcracker CD as well as other ballets or dance movies that I could play and choreograph to. [Q] When did you make the commitment to study dance? [JE] When I was in seventh grade, I realized there were more musical theater opportunities for my age level, so I auditioned as a dancer for Bye Bye Birdie at the Hilton Head Community and Youth Theater. During the rehearsal process, the choreographer pulled me aside and said, “Hey, I noticed you’re a natural dancer and pick up steps quickly. You should really consider taking jazz and tap.” Meanwhile Sonya was taking lessons at Hilton Head Dance, so I joined her in the jazz and tap class there. She had ballet right before that, so I would sit and do my homework while she was doing that. Then one day artistic director Karena Brock–Carlyle came up to me and said, “You’re already here waiting for jazz and tap so why don’t you take ballet too.” I did and found that I loved the versatility of it all.
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LocalLifeSC.com + NOVEMBER 2021