L’Antoinette Stines Has No Plans to Hang Up Dancing Shoes

It was on her regular bus ride home that teenager L’Antoinette Stines saw a group of young people dancing in a yard on Harbour Drive in St. Andrew.

Mesmerised by the intricacy of their movements, she immediately disembarked the bus and stood at the gate of the yard, watching in amazement as the youngsters used their bodies to convey the rhythm and language of the music.

That was more than 50 years ago.

That one encounter on Harbour Drive catapulted Dr. L’Antoinette Ọṣun Awade Wemo Stines to a lifetime of success with the riveting artform.

Her name is synonymous with dance, not just in Jamaica but the Caribbean and the world.

She is a director, choreographer, author, actor and dancer and now a silver recipient of the prestigious Musgrave Medal.

Presented by the Institute of Jamaica, the Musgrave Medal celebrates excellence in Literature, Science, and Art.

Receiving the award, Dr. Stines tells JIS News, marks a significant milestone in her career, and serves as motivation to keep on going and reach new heights in the profession.

In reflecting on five decades in dance, she harkens back to that fateful day when she came off the bus and saw the youngsters dancing under the tutelage of veteran media and communications trainer Alma Mock Yen, who is also an accomplished choreographer.

“At first, I was afraid to tell my mother I wanted to attend this dance class. I just stood and watched every evening. Eventually Mrs. Mock Yen saw me and asked me what I was doing there, and that’s how I got started,” Dr. Stines tells JIS News.

She praises Mrs. Mock Yen as being a phenomenal choreographer, who created the Harbour View Dance Group, which did exceptionally well at the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) festival competitions.

Mrs. Mock Yen used her classes to expose Dr. Stines to ballet, as well as other dance techniques.

“I was blessed with a mother who was, I think futuristic. When I told her I wanted to do dance and really pursue a career in it, she supported me wholeheartedly. She was an excellent seamstress and even made costumes for Mrs. Mock Yen,” Dr. Stines says.

However, not everyone was supportive, and she was met with ridicule by persons who did not think she could make a living through a career in dance.

“There were people around who thought it was a joke, thought it was stupid. They just didn’t pay it much attention because they thought it was nothing. I remember someone asking me ‘how are you going to eat? What you going to really do now? What is the real thing you’re going to do?’,” she recalls with a laugh.

Dr. Stines says she was never daunted; instead she kept her focus. “You see, I understand because they can’t see what the future is, and it’s really you as the individual who has to make the future out of it,” she tells JIS News.

Dr. Stines is the founder and artistic director of L’Acadco: A United Caribbean Dance Force, which is an industry-leading contemporary dance company based in Jamaica, which she formed in 1978.

She is also the creator of the first Anglo-Caribbean Modern Contemporary training procedure called L’Antech, an eclectic Caribbean contemporary technique that synthesises African influences.

She has received awards and accolades too numerous to count but says that the Musgrave Medal is special.

“When I got the call about the Musgrave Award, I had many emotions. I was very shocked, I was very surprised, but I was very honoured that my name is on the list of persons who’ve got the award,” she says.

“I’m not getting this award for me alone. I’m getting it for dance, for all the people that supported L’Acadco, that support dance and all the dancers. It’s also for the people who push for this art to stay strong in this country; it brought tears to my eyes,” she says.

Of all her exploits in dance, Dr. Stines tells JIS News that her three children remain her biggest accomplishment.

“My son Robert is an excellent and successful cyber lawyer; my daughter Amanyea sings, dances, choreographs, produces films; and my son Aaron is a musician who uses music to assist persons with Down syndrome and those who are incarcerated,” she tells JIS News.

She is also proud of the fact that she has witnessed dancers that she has trained becoming respected choreographers themselves.

Dr. Stines says she still has a surreal feeling whenever L’Acadco performs overseas and the dancers receive a warm reception.

“The response and respect that we are given when we perform is something else. One of my biggest achievements is training dancers who can make an income from dance, who end up becoming directors in dance companies in other parts of the world and even end up in Lion King,” she boasts.

“I’m told there are 22 techniques in dance in the world. There are two that came out of Cuba and the only Anglo-Caribbean technique (L’Antech) is the one I have created, I am also proud of that,” she says.

Dr. Stines also recalls the sheer pride she felt when she was selected to choreograph the opening ceremony of the ICC Cricket World Cup in Jamaica in 2007.

“I had all of these dancers, I hired the choreographers, I told them (organisers) how I wanted it. I drew patterns for the floor… I choreographed the lead dancers and some of the bigger [performances],” she notes.

Dr. Stines recalls that she received many commendations from international event organisers remarking that they have never seen a choreography for an opening ceremony completed prior to a show.

As to the future, Dr. Stines tells JIS News that she has no plans to slow down.

“You know, this award woke me up because I have things on my list that I haven’t done and I’m going to do them. I am hoping that I can, with [some support] create a L’Antech Institute so people can come from all over the world to study. I will keep doing what I love until I can’t anymore,” she says.