Nottinghamshire Next Stage Diploma course at Sandfield Centre, that’s where I studied drama in 1994 – 1996. It was a strange but fascinating place to me, filled with constant on going classes of one art form or another, students coming and going, tutorials discussion, long weekend session and master classes of the finniest art minds from Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. The Tutors would come to put us through our paces, it was a world where anything and everything was possible. I loved every minute every moment of it. That’s the place I discovered the art of freedom and expression.

 Confidence, voice and timing were everything in order to survive there. You had to bear all things.  ‘No pain no gain!’  We studied plays and learned the art and craft of performance. Your mind, memory and every little thought process were put to the test day and night. It’s not a place for the faint hearted or the meek who are not prepared to do battle on the stage of life to bear all for the world to see and hear. Knowing full well that the master himself, the Director, and your peers were watching every mistake you make, that was every actor’s nightmare, having a mental memory blank which happens to the best of us at least a hundred times in our life time, then the night of the first performance where the audience hang on to every word you say, hold their breath watching, listen for that very nearly mistake or bad timing and perfection, flowing and enjoying the story of the act with interest.

 As the performance is coming to an end, we all breath a sigh of relief, then after all the worries and stress of the college term comes to an end, hoping everything goes well on the night, glad that you did not brake a leg or fall over your words too many times. Lights and curtains go down, then up again, we all take our bows. The applause from the audience tells you how much they really appreciate you. You feel the love and support out there. It’s hard to explain that feeling.  We leave the stage one last time, then we give each other hugs and kisses, share words of encouragement, have a drink or two, then everyone goes home. With the first performance out of the way, we can all get a good night’s sleep. The next day we wake up feeling good, you get that feeling coming over you. ‘You can’t wait to do it all over again’ the next day. That was my first taste of theatre and still is today.

I met so many wonderful friends, talented students and tutors. It was one of the happiest times and most life-changing periods in my life. The director of Professional Theatre and Training, David Johnston, an associate lecturer Ava Hunt remain friends today. Geoff Bullen, was Course Director of productions and the diploma course  inspired my dreams in believing that I could do my first historic one man play ‘Streets Paved with Gold’ not just well, but successfully.

 For me, I always remember my late parents this time of the year. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be here. I love to show my appreciation and respect by remembering them.

 Remember mama, remember papa,

check out your family, discover your history….

(from my poem ‘Remember mama, remember papa’)

I never really understood why I had developed this great passion for our parents’ music, dance, fashion and food. Listening to their stories of back home growing up in the Caribbean was fascinating for me, along with their words of wisdom and their advice to us as children growing up.

 My mother passed away four years ago. Her life was filled with fun, jokes, laughter, good food and music.  I always remember the way they dance, not forgetting the cursing and arguments they had every other day, along with a good healthy church life. I believe that these memories had such a profound impact on my life. I knew deep down in my heart, one day soon, all of our parents lives and much more will fade away into a distant memory with very little documentation apart from what has been documented in the last 60 years, after all their challenges, struggles and pioneering hard work, when they first came to Great Britain ‘the mother country’. This is the main theme of my work ‘The Windrush Story’. 

The SS Empire Windrush arrived at Tilbury Dock (London) on 22 June 1948, carrying 492 passengers from Jamaica wishing to start a new life in the U.K. The passengers were the first large group of West Indian immigranting to the UK after the Second World War. My parents were amongs those who migrated to the country in the 50’s. I wrote a trilogy of one man plays around this theme,  ‘Streets Paved with Gold’ ‘Return to the Caribbean’ and ‘Children of the First Generation’ I will be writing my stories on what inspired me to write these plays in the future.

If you are interested in finding out more about the Windrush history and the background, watch the Youtube video clips ‘Windrush Story’ from my homepage. I believe that you will find it very interesting and educational especially good for schools.

The year 2012 is a time of uncertainty with the whole world’s economical climate creating instability for the majority of people. It is my feeling that we need to appreciate the memories of our parents a lot more in order to get back to traditional values of respect.

… Now times are changing, new faces appear, she’s seen them before but it was not here. She can hear the new lives as the old disappear, and hope is tinged with a sigh. Uncertainty looms as the path becomes clear, now the streets of gold are fading near…

(from my poem ‘Streets Paved with Gold’)

Like so many young black men and women left schools without any or enough qualifications in the mid 70s, then we began to realise that we were going to continue in the footsteps of our parents, doing the hardest jobs working in the factories, hospitals, hosieries, catering and building sites, seeing how hard and honest they had to work to keep us clothed and fed, going to school and church, and making sure we stayed out of trouble.

I simply wanted to do something different with my life and hopefully in the process I can make my mum and dad feel proud of me one day. I knew that it was not going to be easy the day I told my mother that I wanted to be a fashion model. She simply went nuts, I mean ‘really crazy’, she was so mad at me. I thought I was going to get a beating. She didn’t understand what I was trying to do at the time, she just expected me to go into the factory, so in order to cool down the situation, I decided to go and work in the hotel industry for 7 years. I did not know how to get into modelling at the time anyway, also it did cross my mind that maybe I was dreaming.

But I never gave up my dream of becoming a fashion model one day, as the years went by, my opportunity finally came by getting in to a local Modelling School in Leicester for 12 weeks. I got my passing out certificate, from then on there was no turning back. With my mother’s blessing and support, I quickly rose through the ranks as they say traveling up and down the country, joining modelling agencies in the U.K., Amsterdam and Paris, building my experiences and making friends along the way. I began to realised that I had an eye and ear for good timing, and the confidence to become a choreographer, but soon I realised I would be faced with the same old stereotype casting as our parents went through. It made me angry and frustrated to see how tough it was for black models trying to break through and getting into fashion magazines of the day at the time.

I began to do more lucrative shows for Marks and Spenser or C&A. One day when I was talking to a friend in Amsterdam in a restaurant, he was a hair dresser from Suriname in South America. He asked me the question ‘How long are you going to keep coming and going between the U.K. and Amsterdam?’ That was when I decided to give up my agencies in Amsterdam and I came back to the U.K. to start my own business as ‘V Jay Promotions’ as it was then, through the enterprise allowance scheme through the bank which led to my first major project, “Fashion through the Ages” a fashion show telling the stories of our parents, through their music, clothes and dance styles from the 50s through to the 90s with blue beat, ska, reggae, jazz and soul, with a running commentary.

Do you remember platform shoes with flared trousers, tank top, afro wigs and the music ‘Young Gifted and Black’ by Bob and Marcia, Desmond Decker ‘Israelites’, Nina Simone “My baby just cares for me”? The show was a big hit with the general public at Porsche Club in Birmingham. It brought back memories. Everybody on the night had so much fun and laughter. My friends and family talked about it for weeks. I knew I was on to a winner.

The show was captured on video packaged and marketed for schools and the community at large for all to see. The DVD is now available from my shopping page.

These were my humble beginnings, which led to the next stage of my developing career.

Remember, our journey in life is about progress not perfection, progress is evolutionary not revolutionary.

WISHING YOU ALL VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I’m looking back my 15 years now, so many memories come to my mind. All of my sweet and bitter experiences I had are so precious because they made me strong, confident, humble, ambitious and generous. My words cannot express enough to appreciate for all those people who helped me in the past.

I have achieved my dreams in many ways. I would like to share with you,  my experiences, my dreams and my observation of people, community, society and the world through this blog weekly. Please watch this space !  Your comments are welcome!