Tradition Flourishes with the BVI Heritage Dancers
By Jane Bakewell
The BVI’s colorful dance troupe, The Heritage Dancers, entertain audiences here and around the globe with traditional dance performances.
Some of the ways of defining a culture include its food, language, customs, and most importantly, what is passed down from preceding generations – tradition. The colorfully costumed BVI Heritage Dancers have kept tradition alive in the territory through nearly a half century as the only existing folkloric group still performing here and abroad.
Varrisse Hodge, a retired Customs Inspector and current President (and still active dancer in the group), sat down with me along with Heather Butcher, Choreographer and Tutor of the dance team, to fill me in on the history of this dance form in the BVI.
One of the territory’s cultural icons, Elieene Parsons was instrumental in the formation of the first group of Heritage dancers in 1979. She was a teacher at the island’s Secondary School when Varrisse was just a young student. They struck up a friendship as fans over competing US Baseball teams. “I was a Dodger’s fan, and she was a Yankee’s fan. My classroom was across from hers and when the games were on the radio, she turned it up just enough so I could hear it also,” he laughed.
Having lived in the USVI for years, upon returning home, Mrs. Parsons brought with her the cultural dances she had learned there and taught them to the emerging BVI Heritage Dance team, with Ishmael Hodge as the principal Dance Master. From that time on the team continued to perform both here and abroad.
Heather as a trained dancer from the Barbados Theatre Dance Company and the impressive, Alvin Ailey Dance Co. (US) joined the group as Choreographer in 1994 a year after migrating here from Barbados with her husband. She brought her experience in dance to help refine and see that the dances were executed correctly.
“There are traditionally four couples dancing” she explained “in what is called in French, a Quadrille.” Although there can be less, this is the basic grouping. Here the dances are performed to the music of traditional fungi bands. Fungi music is very festive often with humor and has deep African influences. “Fungi”is the local name for folk music, literally it means a “cook up” or combination. It is played often with locally made instruments like washboards and calabash shakers, along with a guitar or banjo.
Some of the BVI fungi bands have gained international prominence in their travels as cultural ambassadors of the territory. Well-known groups such as The Lashing Dogs, the Spark Plugs, Zion Sounds and Leon and the Hot Shots have performed along with the Heritage Dancers in the Caribbean, US, Germany and Switzerland. Elmore Stoutt of both the Spark Plugs and Zion Sounds came to be known as the “Fungi Master.”
I enquired about how long the individual dances were. “We usually do what I call a set,” Heather explained. Each dance being 3-4 minutes, a set might be around a 15-minute presentation. I turned to Varrisse, who admitted he was one of the senior dance members in the group and asked about his draw to folk dance. “I love dancing,” he smiled, ‘and this was organized dancing, something we hadn’t seen before, and I picked it up quickly.”
Heather explained that in couple’s folk dancing the male is the lead dancer. A strong lead dancer can help a weaker dancer through the steps by being the guide. Matching couples according to their abilities in dance is part of the choreographer’s job. In their repertoire now there are six to eight dances traditionally performed.
The dance costumes have evolved over the years, beginning with a “Madras” print for the men’s shirts and ladies’ long skirts. Years later local artist, Joseph Hodge designed what was called the “Map print,” a background of the VI island chain with dancers in between which could be reproduced on colored fabrics such as blue, red, yellow, white and black. In 2012 a “Territorial Dress” print design was officially adopted by Government including aspects of BVI culture such as the turtle dove, soursop, hibiscus, etc. designed in part by local fashion icon, Kristen Frazer.
The ongoing challenge, of course, is recruiting the youth to participate in their cultural heritage. Four years ago, Heather was able to go into the schools and promote the dance team, even forming a Junior BVI Heritage Dancers group of 13 to18 year-olds. However, as the youth graduated and went on to college studies many dropped out.
In 2024 The BVI Heritage Dancers put on a performance at H.Lavity Stoutt Community College celebrating 45 years of dance as well as being the opening performers for the August Festival Village that same year under the theme: “Glimpses of the Past.”
“I am very proud that we have not stopped,” Heather emphasized, “there has not been a year we have not performed.”
Currently, the exciting next step for BVI Heritage Dancers is the finishing of the new dance studio in Road Town, located just off Drake’s Highway across from the historic Old Sugar Works Museum.
“We have been thankful that others have offered their dance spaces, but it is time for us to have our own” Mr. Hodge explained.
As a non-profit organization, the Heritage Dancers depend on the support of the public to continue upholding this valuable cultural tradition. Hopefully for years to come the echoes of fungi music and colorful folk dance will be heard and seen throughout the territory.
Donation queries can be made through email: Contact: Heatherpfb1@gmail.com
View a video history of the Heritage Dancers at:
And one of the Heritage Dancers performing at the Carrot Bay Cultural Fiesta with The Razor Blades fungi band at:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1139580949560923
For more about the BVI’s Cultural Heritage go to:
