By Nordia Henry, Staff Reporter
IF YOU get the chance to meet him, words such as creative, intelligent and inspirational will instantly come to mind. He is one of the founding members of Ashé performing arts group formed in 1993.
Besides being one of the group's directors, Michael Holgate is also a lecturer at the School of Dance at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, a dancer, songwriter and choreographer. In April, Jamaicans will get the opportunity to see him in the movie One Love, in which he plays the role of 'Bobo' the uncompromising Rastafarian.
Holgate was born on December 26, 1972 in Kingston. He grew up in the Havendale and Molynes Road areas of St. Andrew and attended St. Peter Claver Primary School on Waltham Park Road. After leaving primary school, he then went to Wolmer's Boys' school and later the University of the West Indies (UWI) where he did a degree in English Literature. He is currently pursuing a Master's of Philosophy degree in Cultural Studies.
As the saying goes 'When life gives you a lemon, make lemonade'. Holgate had an innate talent for the arts and he turned it into something truly magnificent.
I have always been artistic... My mother who was a teacher at St. Peter Claver Primary, would always allow me to draw all her charts used at school. I was also someone who loved music like country and western. While attending Wolmer's a few of us put on a production called Not Just a Nightmare as part of the drama festival and Cathy Levy from Little People and Teen Players' Club was there and invited us to join her company and there has been no turning back since. For me the performing arts is a full-time career, I've never had to do a day job and then do performing arts in the evening. I see it as a profession like a lawyer. It's just the performing arts all the way.
There have been... three people in my life who were very influential and instrumental; Annett Leyow and Sharon Knight taught me at Wolmer's to feel comfortable with myself and project my energy. Also executive director of Ashe Joseph Robinson. He is the person who encouraged me and helped me to believe that I could make a career in the performing arts. Everybody else said 'You have to get a day job and do performing arts in the evening.' But until now, I haven't held a single job except the performing arts and I'm trying to get people to see that you can make a career in the performing arts.
I write a lot of songs... for my church the Universal Centre of Truth. I also co-write songs for the musical theatre, I choreograph a couple of dance numbers for Movement Dance Company, Wolmer's Dance Group and other groups. The length of time it takes for me to write a song depends on the level of inspiration. It takes me about two days to finish a song but once I have the theme it is much easier and the time span is shorter. I don't necessarily need a quiet environment to concentrate in order to write my songs. Even though I love solitude, I am sometimes forced to write a song with three or more persons and I don't mind working with others. Other than that, I write in any way of shape or form.
My most memorable moment... of being in the performing arts is every time I hear my songs being sung by a talented performer, I feel inspired, empowered and euphoric-the type of sensation like I'm on top of the world.
My take on Jamaican music today is... I think that there should be more variety. We are overdoing the same thing, for example, Bob Marley was so great because he was experimenting a lot and he used a lot of elements. The in-thing today is if you are not doing Reggae then you not doing nothing but if we want much more, we have to grow and try to be versatile. We have a few good artistes today who are doing a lot; they are experimenting a bit, like Shaggy and Beenie Man.
Ashé is not an acronym It's a Yoruban word that means 'yes'. It's just like when you pray and say 'Amen' but Ashé is saying 'Yes to life, power, strength and God within'.
The 31-year-old academy director and performer does some amount of painting but not a lot. He considers himself as an intuitive artist but he loves music, dance, drama and writing where he believes his greatest love, passion and interest lies. Flair asked two persons to describe Holgate's talent and his personality and this is what they said:
Rev. Shiela McKeithan from the Universal Centre of Truth at Seymour Avenue gave us an emphatic phrase, 'Michael is a bundle of dynamite waiting to explode, not exhale!' while Sandra Grant, receptionist and canteen Manager at the Ashé Centre said, "I have been working here for two years and I find Michael to be a genuine person. He is very approachable, someone who you can talk to about anything. As it relates to his talents, he is very energetic and creative. As one of the directors, he is a nice person to be with and around and he's pretty accessible. Personally, if I have a problem whether work-related or personal I would rather confide in him."
