Tamla Matthews has been an active member of the dance community in Toronto for twelve years. Her experiences have ranged from choreography, to dancing, to artistic direction and have helped to shape her as one of the leading choreographers on the local scene. Tamla started with the Scarborough Caribbean Youth Dance Ensemble as a young dancer and has moved during the years to her current position as Artistic and Cultural Director. Tamla made her directorial debut in 1996 with SCYDE's The Journey, which she directed with renowned professional director Louis MacWilliams. In addition, Tamla co-founded, artistically directs, and choreographes for the Caribbean Dance Theatre. Tamla has been trained in modern, ballet, African Caribbean, and traditional African dance. It is this wide range of dance styles that has greatly influenced her work which has spanned across Metro Toronto. As a dancer/ performer/ choreographer her style is quite unique and is often described as lyrical, graceful and emotional in nature. Tamla's work has touched numerous groups in the artistic community including Dance Caribe, Club Caribe's Hummingbird Dancers in Oshawa, Jessie Matthews and Associates, La Petite Musicale De Toronto, Caribbean Folk Performers, Children's V.O.I.C.E., Up From The Roots Entertainment, and Carnival Connections International Group. She has worked extensively with Marvin Ishmael and We Are One Theatre and was choreographer for the play "My Father My Hero" which won the 1995 Dora Mavor Moore award for Outstanding Production in Theatre for Young Audiences Division.

As a social service worker, Tamla has worked with the Davenport Perth Neighbourhood Centre, Eastview Boys and Girls Club, Canada World Youth, Children's V.O.I.C.E and the Children's Aid Society where she currently functions as the One Stop Housing Worker. This Ontario Scholar a graduate of Glendon College, York University with a honours B.A. in sociology with a minor in Environmental and Health Sciences. Tamla aims to continue to growing and working in all areas of her work and in particular would like to continue to influence youth populations in ways that support and enrich their lives.

SCARBOROUGH CARIBBEAN YOUTH DANCE ENSEMBLE

The Scarborough Caribbean Youth Dance Ensemble is a 15 year old company dedicated to the perseverance and promotion of Caribbean culture through dance. As a performing company SCYDE has thrilled audiences across Canada and the United States in festivals and dance events held in Baltimore, Petawawa, Ottawa and Kingston. They have had the very special distinction of performing at every Caribana since its inception making them an integral part of the city's yearly celebration. Membership starts at 4 years old and anyone who has seen the dancers knows that the dancers work hard. SCYDE's yearly productions are much anticipated events in the dance community as "From Drum To Pan," "The Journey: Traditions in Transition", "Renaissance a celebration of 15 years" have established this company as young, innovative talent to shape the future of dance in this city. This year's production will be in May. Stay tuned for details.

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws