Byron Beckford puts his heart into his dancing. - Contributed THERE MIGHT be a lot of difference between a chartered accountant and a professional dancer. Nonetheless, these are the two career goals that Byron Beckford has set himself. Byron is a 16-year-old student at Tivoli Comprehensive High School.
He is a 10th grade business student and so does Principles of Business, Computer Studies, Office Procedures, Principles of Accounts, Mathematics and English Language. "I'm kinda getting on with English A, but I like Principles of Business as well," he points out after noting that Priniciples of Accounts is his favourite subject.
Of his two career choices, Bryon would prefer to dance and thinks that it is quite likely he will become a dancer. "I may teach or have my own dance theatre," he says.
He has another possibility in the wings, however acting.
Byron sees himself as a part-time comedian. He notes that he loves making his friends laugh and is willing to become an actor if his other two options fail to pan out.
He started dancing in 1998 with the Tivoli Gardens High School Dance Troupe and he is one of only seven males in the group. Byron, who is now well muscled, points out that when he had just started dancing his body used to feel 'lazy'. However, he would go home, shift the furniture in his house and practise until he began to get good at his craft. In fact, his dancing has earned him a scholarship to attend the Edna Manley College for the Visual and Performing Arts summer dance programme.
Dancing is an art form that Byron had long yearned to learn. However, he had been discouraged. He says, "It was something I wanted to try from a long time, but the people that I was around made me want to stay away from it." Fortunately for Byron, he had two friends who believed he should pursue this desire. He points out that Athena Davidson and Vermont Thomas encouraged him to join the troupe, which they were already a part of, until he finally submitted.
Byron likes the choreography aspects of dance as well as pop and modern dancing. However, he seems to get other benefits. He points out that when dancing, he likes to flirt. Importantly, however, dance gives him more than this. He says, "Dancing at Tivoli exercises the brain." As such, it helps him to relax and think better, so that he does not mind having dance rehearsals even the day before a test.
Dancing has proven to be truly a bed of roses for Byron. While he enjoys much of the sweetness, he has met with his fair share of thorns. He points out that during 1999, he had been beset by a group of bullies who were set on pushing him into a fight. However, he simply backed away. Things are better now, he says.
Nonetheless, there are still those persons who ridicule him for being a male dancer. He points out that while the young men in his class offer encouragement, others are not so friendly. "But I just ignore them," he says, "because I know I can do better than them, and I know I can do my work." It is not only in the area of dance that Byron has met with a few hurdles. "Living in Tivoli and Denham Town is very hard," he states. "The hardest thing is how people treat you. Many people offer
discouragement."
On the bright side, Byron has a grandmother and father whom he loves very much. He has also received much encouragement from the different dance teachers that work with the troupe.
