1 week ago
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by Mell P
Dr. Shola K. Roberts embodies the bridge between Caribbean heritage and global artistry. An assistant professor in the School of Music, Dance and Theatre at Arizona State University, Roberts is a dance educator and choreographer from New York by way of Grenada. Her unique perspective, shaped by both the Spice Isle and the concrete jungle, would become the foundation for a cultural movement that now spans continents after six years.
With a Master’s degree in dance education from Hunter College and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Howard University, Roberts has built an impressive career that includes choreographing for the film “They Speak… We Dance!” at Brooklyn Academy of Music’s DanceAfrica Festival 2021. Her contributions to Caribbean culture earned her the 2019 Caribbean Life Impact Award, and in 2020, the Grenadian Consulate honored her as a Cultural Ambassador, the same year she would launch her most ambitious project yet.
These lived experiences ably contribute to who this body of work is,” Roberts explains, her voice carrying the authority of someone who has transformed academic theory into community practice. “It’s about recognizing that we’re not just somebody’s backyard.
A Dream Deferred Becomes a Movement
What began as just a vision sharing dance culture has blossomed into one of the Caribbean’s most significant cultural bridges. Roberts founded Dance Grenada in February 2020, a timing that would test every ounce of her determination.
I always wanted to create a space where I was bringing international artists and collaborating with local artists on the island,” Roberts recalls.
The platform she envisioned would allow Grenadian and international dance artisans to increase their knowledge base while celebrating Caribbean excellence. But like many great stories, this one began with an obstacle that could have ended everything.
Pivoting Through Pandemic
In 2019, Roberts was ready to launch. The plans were set, the vision was clear. Then 2020 arrived with its own agenda. With no sponsorship and a global pandemic shutting down the world, most would have shelved their dreams. Instead, friends, family, and believers in her vision urged her forward with a simple message: pivot, don’t quit.
The festival launched virtually, an act of audacity that would define its character. “It was the best decision,” she reflects now. “What it did was show people that we wanted to give them something cultural in the midst of a time when we thought the world was going to come to an end.
That first virtual festival didn’t just survive; it created a foundation for something remarkable. By 2021, Dance Grenada was on the island in person, and the transformation from digital dream to physical reality had begun. Now in its sixth year, the festival has become an anticipated season in Grenada’s cultural calendar.
Beyond Movement: Building Pipelines to Professional Success
Roberts brings her dual role as educator and curator into perfect harmony. At ASU, she tells her students about the importance of building community at conferences and classes. At Dance Grenada, she creates that very community for Caribbean artists.
The festival’s impact extends far beyond its annual August celebration. One story captures its essence: a young dancer who discovered the festival through word-of-mouth attended the first year, applied for a scholarship the following year, and through connections made at the festival, now pursues a dance degree at the University of Trinidad and Tobago.
We’re creating this pipeline from Grenada to professionalism,” Roberts explains, pride evident in her voice. “It’s about knowing there is more, and if we say this is something we love, we will do the necessary work and continue to educate ourselves.
This commitment to paying artists, a principle she holds sacred, and which sets Dance Grenada apart. “When we go to a lawyer, we pay those fees. When we see a doctor, we pay. The artists need to get paid as well,” Roberts insists. Through sponsorships, the festival provides scholarships while maintaining its commitment to compensating performers and teachers fairly.
Preserving Heritage While Disrupting Narratives
This year’s theme “Caribbean Excellence: Striving for More, Disrupting the Narrative” reflects Roberts’ deeper mission. Each festival day ends with classes in Grenadian folk forms, ensuring international participants don’t just learn contemporary and Western styles but understand the cultural foundations that have sustained Caribbean people through centuries.
The festival has honored cultural practitioners like Gloria Payne-Banfield, Cecilia Griffith, and Keith Williams. This year’s posthumous honor goes to Winston T. Fleary, who dedicated his life to preserving Carriacou’s Big Drum traditions.
Our traditions speak to resistance, survival, resilience, and joy,” Roberts emphasizes. “It’s not about imitation but learning about what has sustained us as Caribbean people.
A Testament to Caribbean Excellence
Roberts’ own story embodies the excellence she celebrates. Last year, while pregnant, she completed and defended her doctoral dissertation, organized the festival’s fifth anniversary, and prepared to welcome her first child, all while maintaining her teaching responsibilities at ASU and the festival’s high standards.
People lose their minds when they hear about it,” she laughs. “They say, ‘I don’t know how you did it.’ But this is Caribbean excellence. We’ve always been here, contributing to global movements, working alongside leaders in every field.
Her academic background brings scholarly rigor to her cultural work. During her dissertation research, she discovered something profound: “I saw the joy from people when they described or had to remember certain experiences, and I was like, yeah, there’s something beautiful and powerful about qualitative data. Capturing that is very important.”
Roberts credits both divine guidance and the community she’s built over decades. “I couldn’t have gotten this far without my community—friends from Howard University, collaborators who’ve become family.” She prefers the word “community” over “networking,” emphasizing the importance of reciprocal relationships, a philosophy she imparts to her ASU students.
I tell my students all the time: when you go out to these conferences and take classes, you’re building relationships, creating community. It’s not just taking, taking, taking—there’s an exchange happening.
This year’s choreographers’ call drew nearly 50 applications from Tanzania, the UK, Trinidad, and Canada—testament to the festival’s growing international reach. Young dancers now anticipate “festival season” with the same excitement as Carnival, and past scholarship recipients volunteer to support new participants.
The Academic-Artist Bridge
Roberts’ unique position as both university professor and festival director creates unprecedented opportunities. Her work demonstrates that academic excellence and community engagement aren’t separate pursuits but complementary forces. At ASU, she brings real-world experience to the classroom; at Dance Grenada, she applies pedagogical expertise to cultural preservation.
We’re not only shaping dancers or training dancers—we’re shaping future leaders in the creative economy,” Roberts explains. “That speaks to education, empowerment, and opportunity. We’re creating a model of sustainable arts education that centers the Caribbean.
The Vision Forward
Roberts’ dreams stretch beyond the festival’s current success. She envisions partnerships with UNESCO and other global entities, continued preservation and promotion of Caribbean dance traditions, and pathways for artistic and economic growth throughout the region.
Her ultimate goal speaks to every young Caribbean artist: “My dream is for every young Caribbean dancer to know they don’t have to choose between culture and career, that Dance Grenada builds both. I am here because I held fast to this dream and worked hard, and it is now my career.”
Against All Odds, The Dance Continues
Even without support from two major previous sponsors this year, the festival persists.
It’s going to happen regardless,” Roberts declares, “because there are individuals who truly believe in the vision and the goal.
For the young people who look forward to this annual celebration, who find grounding and community through dance during their challenging adolescent years, Roberts’ festival represents more than movement. It represents possibility.
Roberts speaks of sustaining relationships forged through dance, of qualitative data that captures joy in ways numbers never could, and of a festival that has become a testament to what happens when Caribbean excellence refuses to be contained.
From the classrooms of Arizona State University to the vibrant stages of Grenada, Roberts continues to prove that excellence isn’t just about individual achievement, but about creating spaces where entire communities can rise.
Dance Grenada International Festival runs this Thursday 16 October through the 20th, celebrating six years of building bridges between culture and opportunity. For more information, visit www.dancegrenada.com or follow @dancegrenada on Instagram. The festival offers classes in everything from traditional bélé and Afro-Cuban to commercial and Grenadian folk dance, culminating in a concert that showcases both international and local talent.
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