Bajan Youth Train To Be Triple Threats

“Sing. Dance. Act.” Acclaimed Barbadian vocalist and tutor Janelle Headley strongly believes that versatility is the key to success in the international arena.

She believes young performers in Barbados need to explore a variety of performing arts instead of focusing on one or two aspects to be able to compete with international artists.

Headley, who has performed in Barbados and Canada, is collaborating with a team of talented performers to expose young people to several art forms.

Janelle Headley

Operation Triple Threat, currently underway at the Black Rock Cultural Centre, is a six week intensive summer workshop for youth (ages 11-18), who show promise in music, dance and drama. The workshop is designed to expand their experience with musical theatre.

Co-Founded by Janelle Headley and Dionne Timothy, Operation Triple Threat is designed to widen the scope of high-quality performances for participants locally, regionally and internationally.

A performer and songwriter from six-years-old, Headley sung at church and was a part of Queen’s College School Choir. She is hoping to use her experience and training at King’s University College and York University to nurture a new generation of performers through her Live the Music, Breathe the Music (Live-Breathe Music) company.

Headley and Timothy, a classically-trained soprano and the recipient of the inaugural Janice Millington Scholarship, will be training young participants in vocals at the summer intensive workshop which is in its first year of operation.

Training will be provided in Theatre Arts by stage veteran Amanda Cumberbatch. Cumberbatch, who earned her MA in Drama Education and Cultural Studies at Warwick University, may be best known for her performances in the plays 'The Final Truth?', 'The Vagina Monologues' and 'Oleanna'. Joining her will be Amy Harper, who will tutor students in Makeup for Theatre, enabling them to work behind the scenes as well as on stage.

Dance tutors will be choreographers Crystal Nicholls and Julia Headley. Nicholls is a student of dance at Ryerson University in Canada and Headley is enrolled in her second year at Julliard.

The young performers will face challenging but exciting training and rehearsals in this rigorous workshop which will climax with live public shows. A portion of the proceeds from these shows will go toward the Janice Millington Scholarship Fund which enables an outstanding graduate of the Barbados Community College’s Music Program to pursue tertiary studies overseas.