12
UWI TODAY
– SUNDAY 7 APRIL 2019
When she first moved to Trinidad and Tobago
with her Trini-
born husbandDexter, Australian native Dani Lyndersay already
had experience under her belt in the field of arts activism. She
had worked in Theatre in Education in Nigeria.
Their T&T arrival happened to coincide with the aftermath
of the 1990 attempted government overthrow by the Jamaat al
Muslimeen.Then-CultureMinister JoanYuilleWilliams, noting
how many young people had been caught up in looting and
other nefarious activities, made a call for youth programmes
and plans of intervention. It was from this moment of societal
trauma that Arts in Action would eventually emerge.
Founded by Lyndersay in 1994, Arts-in-Action (AiA)
has made its reputation as the leading “applied creative arts”
company in the Caribbean. In 2019 they are celebrating 25 years
of public education and social intervention through the arts.
CREATIVE INTERVENTION
A Senior Lecturer and former Director of the Department
of Creative and Festival Arts (DCFA), Lyndersay recalls those
early days before AiA was created. She put together “Youth
Crossroads”, a tour of community centres using drama
workshops to engage young people and their communities.
“I needed work,” she says, “and I am a very good nag!”
Lyndersay was able to secure donations for fabric,
instruments, paint and othermaterials to get the initiative going.
However, following elections and a change in government, the
programme fizzled.
Later, working at the DCFA, Lyndersay moved to create a
new programme that would use theatre, dance, music, visual
arts, storytelling, spoken-word, Carnival Arts, and others to
help create social change. Teaming up with then-DCFA Head
Rawle Gibbons, Theatre Arts lecturer Ken Joseph and the late
A R T S - I N - A C T I O N 2 5
th
A N N I V E R S A R Y
Playing their Part
B Y G I L L I A N M O O R E
Brian Honore (of Midnight Robber fame), Lyndersay birthed
(AiA).
From humble beginnings based at a desk at the library of
the old Creative Arts Centre on Agostini Street, the programme
now has its own office at the DCFA at the Gordon Street
campus. Posters about their work and several commendatory
certificates line the walls, including and EMA Green Leaf
Award and, from the university, the Vice-Chancellor’s Award
for Excellence.
From this base, AiA seeks to extend the work andmission
of the organisation into communities and institutions in T&T
and the Caribbean.
The programme is project-based. They work with
institutions, primary and secondary schools, communities,
private companies and other organisations to find solutions
to diverse issues through artistic activities.
Core members include Artistic Director Patrice Briggs;
Artistic Programme Manager Brendon Lacaille; and Artistic
Networking Officers Camille Quamina and Marvin George,
both currently lecturing at the School of Drama at EdnaManley
College of the Visual and Performing Arts (where George is
Dean) at The UWI Mona Campus in Jamaica.
Briggs, also a DCFA lecturer and an early recruit of the
programme, remains enthusiastic about the mission, which
draws from the student population for personnel.
“Arts-in-Action is a space where people who have a passion
for finding themselves through the arts, and reaching out to
young people, can grow in their artform,” she says.
Like many participants, she got involved with AiA as a
UWI student. While doing a doublemajor in English Literature
andTheatre in 1998, she joined the teamand hasn’t looked back.
She says AiA encounters “many students who are not
ARTS-IN-ACTION 25
TH
ANNIVERSARY
“Lyndersay explains that the work is not about
dispensing solutions, but rather helping clients
understand issues and work out their answers
for themselves through the process: ‘It has to be
interactive. You are responsible for your life. In
figuring out how to help effect change, we sing,
write, and dance about it.’
Performers from Arts-in-Action mesmerise an audience of students from the Dinsley/Trincity Government Primary School at an interactive performance workshop.
PHOTO: RAYHAAN JOSEPH
Dani Lyndersay, founder of Arts-in-Action, and Senior Lecturer and
former Director of the DCFA, conducts an introductory training
session for AiA Creatives 2018.
PHOTO: DAVID RAMCHARAN
