Cheryl Byron (c. 1947 – June 17, 2003) was a visual artist, dancer, singer and social and cultural advocate.

Biography

She started her studies in her native land,

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

. There she also studied dance with Neville Shepard and acted with the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

Theater Guild. While on tour in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, her artwork won her a scholarship to the

New School University The New School is a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for progressive thinkers. ...

, where she studied

fine art In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...

. Byron then obtained

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

and

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degrees in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

from City College (

CUNY , mottoeng = The education of free people is the hope of Mankind , budget = $3.6 billion , established = , type = Public university system , chancellor = Fél ...

) while maintaining her professional life, including becoming in 1976 the first woman to perform her own original brand of

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

in a

calypso tent Calypso tents are venues in which calypsonians perform during the Carnival season. They usually are cinema halls, community centers, or other indoor buildings which have seating and stage arrangements to host the entertainers, guests and patrons; ...

in Trinidad. Byron was a pioneering performer of

rapso Rapso is a form of Trinidadian music that grew out of the social unrest of the 1970s. Black Power and unions grew in the 1970s, and rapso grew along with them. The first recording was ''Blow Away'' by Lancelot Layne in 1970. Six years later ...

and

dub poetry Dub poetry is a form of performance poetry of West Indian origin, which evolved out of dub music in Kingston, Jamaica, in the 1970s,

. Considered the Mother of Rapso, she was inspired by the artistry of Lancelot "Kebu" Lane. According to ''Rhythms of the Afro-Atlantic World: Rituals and Remembrances'' by Mamadou Diouf, "Cheryl Byron's poetic performances made visible by the female acts of anticolonial resistance that were carried out in religious and spiritual practice." She studied dance with

Pearl Primus Pearl Eileen Primus (November 29, 1919 – October 29, 1994) was an American dancer, choreographer and anthropologist. Primus played an important role in the presentation of African dance to American audiences. Early in her career she saw the need ...

and became a member of the Primus Borde Earth Theater. She then became Primus' special assistant, accompanying her on her numerous teaching and choreography assignments, including with the

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) is a modern dance company based in New York City. It was founded in 1958 by choreographer and dancer Alvin Ailey. It is made up of 32 dancers, led by artistic director Robert Battle and associate a ...

. Byron performed on national and international stages. Her talent took her to such places as

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

, and

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. She was an ordained Reverend Mother in the

Spiritual Baptist The Spiritual Baptist faith is a Christian religion created by enslaved Africans in the plantations they came to in the former British West Indies countries predominantly in the islands of a Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tobago and the ...

faith and a professor at

Medgar Evers College Medgar Evers College is a public college in New York City. It is a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY), offering baccalaureate and associate degrees. It was officially established in 1970 through cooperation between educator ...

and the

College of New Rochelle The College of New Rochelle (CNR) was a private Catholic college with its main campus in New Rochelle, New York, but also in Australia, England, and Germany. It was founded as the College of St. Angela by Mother Irene Gill, OSU of the Ursuline ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York. She also taught at City College, and

New York City Technical College The New York City College of Technology (City Tech) is a public college in New York City. Founded in 1946, it is the City University of New York's college of technology. History City Tech was founded in 1946 as The New York State Institute of ...

. Byron played one of the lead roles in the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

film ''Homecoming'', became a published poet in an anthology of poetry, ''Woman Rise'', and was a featured artist on an album of dub poetry, ''Womantalk'', on

Heartbeat Records Heartbeat Records is an independent record label based in Burlington, Massachusetts. The label specializes in Jamaican music. Founded by reggae music enthusiasts Bill Nowlin and Duncan Brown, the label's first release was a vinyl LP reissue of L ...

. Byron founded Something Positive, a New York City-based performing arts and education organization dedicated to preserving the art and culture of the African Diaspora and its cross-cultural influences. Established in 1981, the ensemble of dancers, singers and musicians performs an original repertoire both nationally and internationally. Something Positive is under the Artistic Direction of Michael Manswell. Cheryl Byron died in New York at the age of 56. Something Positive released ''VISION'', a compilation of Byron's music, in 2012.

References

External links

"Cheryl Byron - founder", Something Positive website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Byron, Cheryl 2003 deaths 20th-century Trinidad and Tobago women singers Trinidad and Tobago women artists Rapso Trinidad and Tobago dancers Trinidad and Tobago women poets The New School alumni City College of New York alumni Year of birth uncertain Trinidad and Tobago artists