Beryl McBurnie

Infobox Artist
bgcolour = Pink
name = Dr. Beryl "La Belle Rosette" McBurnie
imagesize =
caption = Beryl McBurnie
birthname = Beryl McBurnie
birthdate = birth date|1915|11|2
location = Port-of-Spain, Trinidad
deathdate = Death date and age|2000|03|3|1915|11|2
deathplace = Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
nationality = flagicon|TRI Trinidad and Tobago
field = Dance
training = Columbia University, New York
movement = Promotion of Dance, Arts and Culture of Trinidad & Tobago
works = The Little Carib Theatre
patrons = Katharine Dunham, Martha Graham, Paul Robeson, Sam Manning, Carmen Miranda
influenced by = Martha Graham, Katharine Dunham, Sam Manning, Culture of Trinidad & Tobago
influenced = Pearl Primus, Alvin Ailey, Caribana
awards = Doctor of Laws, The University of the West Indies; Humming Bird Gold Medal The Republic of Trinidad & Tobago

Beryl McBurnie (November 2, 1915 – March 3, 2000) was a Trinidadian dance legend. She established the Little Carib Theatre, and promoted the culture and arts of Trinidad and Tobago as her life's work. McBurnie helped to promote the cultural legitimacy of Trinidad and Tobago that would ultimately arm its people to handle independence psychologically and healthily. [The Trinidad Express, April 12, 2000. "People of the Century: Beryl McBurnie" http://www.nalis.gov.tt/Biography/bio_BERYLMCBURNIE_pleofcentury.htm] Beryl McBurnie dedicated her life to dance, becoming one of the greatest influences on modern Trinidadian popular culture.

Early life

McBurnie began dancing as a child, performing regularly in dances and plays at Tranquility Girls' School, Port-of-Spain. In her youth she performed Scottish reels, jigs, and other British folk dances that the teacher instructed. Though she appreciated their beauty, she yearned for more. In her teens, she decided to focus on promoting "the emotions of the folk, and which in some cases gave an insight into the history and the way of life of the ordinary people." [Biography of Beryl McBurnie, NALIS Trinidad and Tobago http://www.nalis.gov.tt/Biography/bio_BERYLMCBURNIE_pleofcentury.htm]

Rise to Prominence

McBurnie trained at the Mausica Teachers' College and started her career teaching in Port-of-Spain. She instead decided to pursue her dream career in folk-dance after touring the country with Trinidad's leading folklorist, Andrew Carr. Many melodies and folk dances that would have been lost to Trinidad and Tobago were rescued by McBurnie and promoted in her dancing. In 1938, she enrolled at Columbia University in New York and studied dance with dance pioneer Martha Graham. She also worked with African-American choreographer Katharine Dunham and taught Trinidadian dance at the New Dance Group studio.

In 1940, McBurnie enjoyed a brief return to Trinidad. She presented A Trip Through the Tropics at the Empire Theatre, Port of Spain. McBurnie combined Caribbean and Brazilian dances with interpretations of New York and modern dances, performed to the music of Wagner, Beethoven and Bach, to a packed audience. Her performances sold out.

She returned to New York in 1941 and stayed until 1945. In 1941, she danced with Sam Manning and his ensemble, in the production of the only known calypso "soundies," film clips made for film jukeboxes located in restaurants and bars. [Sam Manning] Performing under the stage name of La Belle Rosette as she taught at the studio of the New Dance Group where, in 1942, the Trinidadian dancer Pearl Primus was one of her students. In June 1942 McBurnie replaced Carmen Miranda in the hit Broadway musical revue Sons o' Fun at the Winter Garden Theatre. The following year, she made a film appearance with the Trinidadian vocalist Sam Manning in "Quarry Road". [The London Independent, Jul 8, 2000 http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20000708/ai_n14328045]

Creation of The Little Carib Theatre

McBurnie became dance instructor with the Trinidadian government's Education Department in 1945. In 1948 she established the first permanent folk-dance company and theatre in Trinidad. Her first show was "Bele" (pronounced Bay-lay) pre-carnival 1948 at her newly opened Little Carib Theatre in Woodbrook, Port of Spain. Paul Robeson laid the cornerstone of the building during a tour of the Caribbean in 1948. Among the many highlights of her work from this period were Talking Drums; Carnival Bele, in which the j'ouvert ballet danced to a steel band; Sugar Ballet; Caribbean Cruise; and Parang. She is considered to be one of the fore-mothers of Parang. [The London Independent, Jul 8, 2000 http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20000708/ai_n14328045]

By the 1960s, the work of the Little Carib Dance Company had been recognised and celebrated overseas, performing at such events as the Caribbean Festival of Arts in Puerto Rico in 1952, the Jamaica Tercentenary Celebrations in 1955 and the opening of the Federal Parliament of Toronto in April 1958. In fact, the celebration in Canada in 1958 would influence the way Caribbean culture was understood in Canada. Her performances in Canada helped pave the way for Canada's Caribana festival in the 1960s. [Trevor Carmichael, "Passport to the Heart: Reflections on Canada-Caribbean Relations". Ian Randle Publishing, Jamaica, 2001.] In 1965 the Little Carib building, no longer safe in Port-of-Spain, had to be closed down and was re-built in 3-years time. However the permanent dance troupe had disbanded and McBurnie instead focused her energies on teaching children.

Recognition and Passing

In 1950 McBurnie was appointed the director of dance in the Education Department. The British Council sent her on a dance tour of England and Europe. In 1959 she was appointed OBE, and in 1969 she was presented with the Humming Bird Gold Medal of Trinidad and Tobago. In 1976 the University of the West Indies conferred on her the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws and in America in 1978 she was honoured along with Katharine Dunham and Pearl Primus at the Twentieth Anniversary Gala of the Alvin Ailey Theater. She died 30 March 2000.

References