In particular, special thanks to the Project Runway viewing party she planned and hosted which benefits The TallMan Foundation.

Anya skyping to the Trinidad Project Runway Finale Viewing Party.

 At the event several TallMan members were present, from both the committee and student body.

Students at the Viewing Party.

 The energy on the rooftop was palpable and it got increasingly tense up till Anya was announced the ultimate winner.

Her family celebrating when the winner is announced.

TallMan students at the Finale.

 Thanks Anya!!!!!

A shot of Alice Yard

 On our first meeting about this program we met Artist in resident Joanna Crichlow (See here http://aliceyard.blogspot.com/2011/07/artist-in-residence-joanna-crichlow.html).

Artist in resident Alice Yard 2011 - Joanna Crichlow

One of the first missions given was to find and explore the newly opened Suede Molte Art Studio - A new studio based in Curepe and run by young artist Jemima Charles (meet Ms. Charles here http://jemimacharles.blogspot.com/).

Jemima Charles stands between two of her pieces. On the left 'Uniformity' and on the right 'Red'.

During the visit Jemima and Joanna shared notes on materials, design, sources of inspiration.

Towards the end of the visit Jemima insisted we design our own cones for a current project she’s working on. This was the end result:

All in all it was a wonderful visit between creative minds. Suede Molte Art Studio has art classes for July. Email Jemima at suedemolteartstudio@gmail.com.

http://vimeo.com/21720960

Enjoy!

Special thanks to 3Canal for giving TallMan a space in their 2011 Carnival show.

www.tallmanfoundation.org

for it frees people from the heaviness of matter

 and binds the isolated to community.

I praise the dance, which demands everything:

health and a clear spirit and a buoyant soul.

Dance is a transformation of space, of time, of people,

who are in constant danger of becoming all brain,

will, or feeling.

Dancing demands a whole person,

one who is firmly anchored in the center of his life,

who is not obsessed by lust for people and things

and the demon of isolation in his own ego.

Dancing demands a freed person,

one who vibrates with the equipoise of all his powers.

I praise the dance.

O man, learn to dance,

or else the angels in heaven will not know

what to do with you.

 - Saint Augustine

Before anything else lemme get this outta the way…

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Lol. ok, now that that’s off of my chest check this out. This video was produced, directed and edited by TallMan students. It was done to thank committee members who have worked faithfully to make TallMan what it is today.

What a wonderful christmas present!! I am truly touched, I was teary eyed watching it, so beautifully done, and so personal. Once again I am humbled by the relationship between what I do for TallMan and the joy and good vibes and love I get back. Great job to all involved!

Wishing all of TallMan, students and committee, lots of love and peace this christmas and always.

Beautiful!!!! What a wonderful Gift!!!

Thank you TallMan!!!

Just looked at the video!  Truely wonderful!  Merry Christmas to all and congrats on another great year for Tallman! 

Thank you thank you thank you Tall Man students! Gratitude in action is the most beautiful gift you can give… I am all teary now!! Thank you for this wonderful sharing of love xx

How thoughtful!

How wonderful!

Finally was able to view this fantastic personal Christmas present.  My eyes are all welled up – a lump in my throat.  Thank you all TallMan students for your precious time spent on producing this truly beautiful tribute to us.  We are so proud of each and every one of you.   

How’s life been treating you? Hopefully absolutely amazing! For those of you who wanted to be at the recent TallMan grad but couldn’t be because of work, school or paralyzing outrage over wiretapping here’s what you missed.

Feature speaker Wendell Manwarren talks about the TallMan motto “Stand Tall, Reach Further, See Beyond”. Citing examples from his own life Mr. Manwarren inspired the audience with tales of dreaming big and reaching your potential.

Check out the video excerpt:

Leave me a comment, what do you think of the speech? What does it mean to you to Stand Tall, Reach Further or See Beyond?

Till next blog post, Stay Tall.

Day: Oct 1st, 2010
Time: 1700 hrs
Mission: TallMan’s Graduation
Objective: Stand Tall, Reach Further, See Beyond

Over 30+ plus proud students of The TallMan Foundation showed up to take part in the graduation ceremony for their outstanding achievements in the various disciplines of Dance, Videography, Photography, Vocal Training, Theatre, Performance Workshop and Music.

TallMan students at the ceremony.

Besides these talented students attendees included the founder of the organization, Michele Jodhan, some TallMan committee members, Fr. Harvey, the dedicated teachers of the various disciplines, close friends and family members and many well-wishers of both the foundation and students.

The Masters of Ceremony were Jamie Thomas and Lifa Morean, both students of the foundation. Jamie involved in photography and videography and Lifa, theatre and dance. They did a fine job of hosting the ceremony and kept the program running smoothly.

TallMan students Jaime and Lifa were the MC's.

The featured guest speaking was none other than Mr. Wendell Manwarren of 3 Canal. He started off his speech with fond or not so fond memories of his grandmother’s way of instilling in him the attitude which would later on define him as the person he is today, a well-respected and sought after musician and theatre writer/producer.

She insisted that he always stand up straight and look up. This had to be reinforced at times with a tap or two. It was her way of ensuring that he would reach his full potential in life. He went on to expound, peppered  with personal valuable life experiences, on his take of the mission statement of TallMan: Stand Tall. Reach Further. See Beyond.

Student Jamie Thomas listens on to feature speaker Wendell Manwarren.

He gave the example of when he went to Australia to assist Peter Minshall with the Sydney 2000 Olympics. He saw an ad that needed drummers for the closing ceremony. He saw the opportunity and took a chance and tried out with no experience or formal training and became one of the drummers in that closing ceremony. He stood tall by exuding confidence and believing in himself, he reached further by participating in the ceremony and he saw beyond the idea in his head and overcame the obstacles before him.

Individual certificates were then given out. Also, as a token and a symbol of their continued growth, the students were given seedlings, to show that they have come along way but also to show that some more growing needs to be done in order to reach their ideal potential.

TallMan representative Anya Ayoung-Chee presents TallMan student Bryan, with his certificate and seedling.

Like last year, another student was chosen as the one who showed great growth as well as maturity in their chosen discipline and that student was Medgar Creed. He was chosen by the graduation committee made up of students and committee members to be given the honour of TallMan Student of the Year.

After the certificates were given out the TallMan Performing Group performed ‘We are TallMan’, a song written by the students themselves.

TallMan Performing Group performs 'We Are TallMan'.

 To end off the evening were guest artist ‘The Savannah Quartet’, four classically trained musicians who either work with or are associated with the UTT. They performed three short classical pieces which were all well received.

The Savannah Quartet prepare to play (one member not in picture).

All in all, the ceremony was a success and we look forward to continued growth from The TallMan Foundation, whether it be in students, their abilities, support or the committee members and teachers. See ya at 2011′s Graduation Ceremony!

It got me thinking about if and why learning different types of dance forms are important. For me, dance is about getting in touch with that internal rhythm we all have within…and letting it out. It’s about expression, creativity, communication and art. And an essential part of dance is learning how to move your body.

One position could be that zoning in on one’s passion and concentrating on that one genre allows you to fully develop your skills. Conversely, one could say that all dance informs each other and if dance is about learning to move your body different forms of dance will only inform one’s expertise.

Here’s the opinion of a trained ballerina: “i def think it’s important to try different styles of dance – just like different types of music invoke different emotions (soothing classical or party-hype dancehall/soca), different dance forms bring out different aspects of your character that you may not have ever explored before….who would ever have thought that this ballerina would enjoy krumping in hip hop class so much?!”

What do you think? Is one genre enough? Or do you love dancing so much it doesn’t really matter. Dancehall, hip hop, ballet, modern, folk, jazz, tap, heck even krumping. Maybe all you want to do is just dance.