Carlton Harold "Jackie" Guy CD MBE is a Jamaican dancer, choreographer and teacher who has been based in the United Kingdom since the mid-1980s.

Career

Guy grew up in the Harbour View area of Kingston and took up dancing as a boy, inspired by the film ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play '' Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid ...

''.Reckord, Michael (2013),
Jackie Guy, MBE – A J'can Success Story
, ''

Jamaica Gleaner ''The Gleaner'' is an English-language, morning daily newspaper founded by two brothers, Jacob and Joshua de Cordova on 13 September 1834 in Kingston, Jamaica. Originally called the ''Daily Gleaner'', the name was changed on 7 December 1992 to ' ...

'', 9 August 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2013. With his friends, he would watch Alma Mock Yen's dance group and was invited to join in 1964. While at Windward Road School he choreographed a dance based on a song by folklorist Louise Bennett-Coverley (Miss Lou), which was performed for her. He gave up dancing while he began a career as an accountant for RJR but soon returned to dance, taking lessons with

Eddy Thomas Eddy Thomas (c. 1932 – 10 April 2014) was a Jamaican dancer, choreographer and dance instructor. With Rex Nettleford he co-founded the National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica (NDTC). Before establishing the NDTC, Thomas was a member of the ...

and Rex Nettleford. Guy would later work with Bennett-Coverley in the 1967

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speakin ...

''Anancy and Pandora'' and the 1971 production ''Music Boy''. In 1968 Guy was invited to join Thomas and Nettleford's

National Dance Theatre Company The National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica (NDTC) is Jamaica's leading dance theatre company. History The company was founded in 1962 by Rex Nettleford and Eddy Thomas with fifteen dancers, with Nettleford acting as its artistic director and pr ...

(NDTC), and was encouraged to develop his choreography and to take up teaching. He performed with the NDTC for 15 years, becoming principal dancer, and taught dance at the Social Development Commission, the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission, and the School of Dance. He was also director of the

University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 17 English-speaking countries and territories in the ...

Dance Society for almost 18 years.Jackie Guy Recognised In 2012 Queen's Birthday Honours List – Receives Member Of British Empire Award
, ''Jamaica Gleaner'', 15 July 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2013. After visiting England in 1985 and touring Britain with the NDTC in 1986, he relocated there in 1987 and has continued to teach in London, using his own "JaGuy Technique". In the UK he choreographed Yvonne Jones Brewster's production of

Derek Walcott Sir Derek Alton Walcott (23 January 1930 – 17 March 2017) was a Saint Lucian poet and playwright. He received the 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature. His works include the Homeric epic poem '' Omeros'' (1990), which many critics view "as Walcot ...

's ''O Babylon!'' and became the artistic director for

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

's Kokuma Dance Company, moving the group towards Caribbean styles. Donnell, Alison (2001), ''Companion to Contemporary Black British Culture'', Routledge, , p. 89. With Kokuma he won Black Dance Awards for Best Production and Best Choreography and the Prudential Award for Excellence, Innovation and Accessibility. He went on to teach in universities and work in several major theatres, and choreographed the successful London stage version of

Perry Henzell Perry Henzell (7 March 1936 – 30 November 2006) was a Jamaican director. He directed the first Jamaican feature film, ''The Harder They Come'' (1972), co-written by Trevor D. Rhone and starring Jimmy Cliff. Life and career Henzell, whos ...

's ''

The Harder They Come ''The Harder They Come'' is a 1972 Jamaican crime film directed by Perry Henzell and co-written by Trevor D. Rhone, and starring Jimmy Cliff. The film is most famous for its reggae soundtrack that is said to have "brought reggae to the world". ...

'', which went on to tour internationally.Interview: Jackie Guy Q&A
, londondance.com, 11 June 2010. Retrieved 10 August 2013 He also taught in

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

as part of a

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

initiative. His ''Innings 84 Not Out'', a tribute to his mother, was performed at the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal ...

in 2006. As a tribute to the recently deceased Bennett-Coverley he choreographed ''Only Fi Yuh'' in 2007 for the Movements Dance Company of Jamaica as part of the company's silver jubilee concert season. In October 2011, Guy received a Lifetime Award from the Association of Dance of the African Diaspora (ADAD). Guy was awarded the MBE in November 2012 in recognition of his outstanding contribution to dance education in the United Kingdom. In 2013 he contributed ''Bankra'', a reworking of a 1986 folk dance dealing with the cultural significance of the "bankra" (a large basket) that he originally created for the UWI Dance Society, to the NDTC's 51st season.Reckord, Michael (2013),
Two New Dances By NDTC Veterans – 2013 Season Opens At The Little Theatre Tonight
, ''Jamaica Gleaner'', 26 July 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2013. In 2015 it was announced that Guy would be awarded the

Order of Distinction The Order of Distinction is a national order in the Jamaican honours system. It is the sixth in order of precedence of the Orders of Societies of Honour, which were instituted by an Act of Parliament (''The National Honours and Awards Act'') ...

, Commander Class (CD) by the Jamaican government later that year.Johnson, Richard (2015)
Arts Fraternity Represented
, ''

Jamaica Observer ''Jamaica Observer'' is a daily newspaper published in Kingston, Jamaica. The publication is owned by Butch Stewart, who chartered the paper in January 1993 as a competitor to Jamaica's oldest daily paper, ''The Gleaner ''The Gleaner'' is an ...

'', 7 August 2015. Retrieved 10 August 2015

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guy, Jackie 1940s births Living people Jamaican male dancers Jamaican dancers Jamaican choreographers Members of the Order of the British Empire Commanders of the Order of Distinction