Every culture has its own flavour and colour. And many years ago, an Indian diplomat landed on the shores of T&T, tasted ours, and could think of nowhere better to live.
Deboleena Paul is an accomplished performer and choreographer – that is an understatement. Paul is a master and scholar of Indian dance, holding three master’s degrees. She has worked as a performer and choreographer across more than 200 stages for audiences in India, Southeast Asia, the Caribbean, and the USA.
Today, she is a dance lecturer and the Dance Unit Coordinator in the Department of Creative and Festival Arts (DCFA) at UWI St Augustine. She has also published two books: Impact of Globalisation on Art and Dance (2020), and Storytelling Through Folk Dance (2020).
However, she had no plans to live here when she first arrived in T&T. With a background in Political Science, she was first a diplomat and cultural ambassador in the Caribbean.
“I come from a family of scientists, but I was, from the moment I was born, a dancer,” says Ms Paul. “My parents say I am ‘a born dancer’. It was not because I saw people dancing. We did not have a TV (because my family did not like TV). It was simply one of my ‘in-born’ characteristics that I am a dancer.”
She adds, “My family was supportive, in particular my mother, so I was allowed as a child to explore my passion for dance alongside my studies. My background is Political Science and Economics, and my favourite subject is Mathematics! But I always gave my time equally to studies and dance throughout my life.”
This was not easy. Anyone who has studied dance can tell you how mentally and physically taxing it can be. In India, the study of traditional and contemporary styles at the highest level is incredibly demanding. Paul began learning dance at age 3, both in schools and eventually from private teachers, where at times the discipline bordered on brutal. She could spend hours – even days – learning to perfect one movement.
As exacting as these years were, they shaped her not only into an expert choreographer and performer, but also someone with great resilience, a capacity for hard work, and someone with deep ambition.
The first time she performed publicly in Trinidad was at the National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA). It was here that she discovered the true flavour and colour of T&T. She thought that she would be happy here if she could find work, but still, she returned to India after her tour was complete.
Back home, Ms Paul spotted an opening at the UWI's Dance Unit and applied. The career shift would allow her to double down on her passion. This year marks her decade of work at the university. She left the life of diplomacy for a life of dance.
“Dance is not one genre – dance is movement,” she says. “Dance makes you self-confident, it makes you strong. It allows for self-expression. It allows me to tell a story and connect with others who may not understand the artwork of dance.”
These days, Paul prefers experimental dance forms – but approaches them from a scientific and mathematical mindset.
“Every new movement is an experiment. I don’t work without meaning. So, the same way the scientist approaches something new with a planned outcome, I do the same. It is experimental movement, it is abstract, but with a reason.”
This difference in mindset is one of the reasons Ms Paul opted to reposition the Dance Unit’s annual programme into the Rhythm of Culture. Traditionally, dance students participate in a show held on campus and are graded on their performance. But Paul saw a better way of sharing the legacy of dance.
“Instead of a show that is centred around students being graded, we introduced a festival held at the Little Carib Theatre, in November 2022. It was held over two days with the morning show being an opportunity for secondary schools to attend. Quite a few graduates of dance from the university are teachers or have their own classes or company, so it was a chance for their students to attend and be inspired.”
The three showings across two days included 33 dance pieces and featured many different dance genres, cultures, talents, and guest artists. Students were not graded, but instead Ms Paul hopes that the Trinidad-based festival will create a space for the wider regional dance community.
“Rhythm of Culture was an opportunity to share students’ hard work and the art form with the public,” she says. “It was also a chance to inspire students interested in dance – who are told that dance leads nowhere. Dance allows you to learn more about yourself and become confident in who you are. Though I was always quiet, when I am on stage, I feel as if the whole audience came to see me perform, and I want to give them the best experience in return. I highly recommend anyone interested in dance to pursue it.”
Paul has also immersed herself in another form of storytelling – documentary film. Her first film, Cheenee (2022), is an ethnographic documentary on indentured Indians and their descendants, created in collaboration with Greek filmmaker Andreas Antonopoulos. Paul and Antonopoulos are also working on a second film about the culture and arts of Tobago made possible with a research grant from The UWI.
In the coming years, she hopes that the influence of the Dance Unit grows, and to see at least 100 students pursue dance annually at the DCFA. Sounds challenging, but never doubt the power of movement.
