Roderick Johnson is an important Bahamian cultural ambassador who travels to far-flung corners of the globe to share his love of teaching and dance and to exchange with other creative cultures.

"I love teaching," he says.  "I like the discipline of dance - teaching is my passion and I love showing off what I can do."

"When students you are teaching grasp the lesson and their feedback is showing they have grown and become enriched and transformed - not only physically but emotionally - that is rewarding," says Johnson.

That was his experience this summer as he taught dance and staged productions at various schools in Indonesia as part of an exciting teaching opportunity.

But Johnson is no stranger to travel.  In fact, he's spent quite a bit of his life abroad, studying and teaching at international schools and performing with esteemed dancing groups in Canada, the U.S., the U.K., Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Panama, Mexico, Peru and other parts of South America.

A member and trained teacher of the Royal Academy of Dance in London, U.K., Johnson was first encouraged to study abroad through a scholarship program by the Bahamian government under the new flag of independence.

He travelled to Toronto, Canada to earn his teaching diploma, specializing in dance and pedagogy at Ryerson University.  Through that, he was able to secure a scholarship with the dance group Joffrey Ballet, where his performance career took off and he joined such esteemed dance groups as Les Ballet Jazz and the Theatre Ballet of Canada.

Soon thereafter he made the switch to teaching.  In 1986, he received a Canada Arts Council grant to earn his BA in dance instruction and dance therapy at York University, followed by a master's in dance with a focus on methodology and ethnography.

A versatile artist

Indeed, after a full dance career and studies, Johnson remains a versatile artist who is able to teach many types of dance at all levels as well as performance and choreography.

"At first it was emotionally tough because I didn't want to stop dancing," he says.  "But once I started teaching, it brought a lot of satisfaction to me because I could still perform.  It was a strategic decision to make to go into other areas besides dance performance."

His latest teaching and artistic endeavor abroad in Indonesia proved to be another eye-opening experience for the talented Bahamian dancer, who received the job as a freelance teacher through a peer's suggestion.

Over two months, Johnson instructed students at Cecilia Ballet School, Lucy Ballet School and Sumber Cipta Ballet School in Jakarta and Belle Ballet in Surabaya.  

With about 50 students per school, he taught a range of dances to children ages 5-10 in the mornings, then teenagers in the 12-14 range and 15-18 range, and finally in the evenings he held advanced classes.

The teaching, he says, was easy and rewarding - it was the language barrier that presented an obstacle until he used it to his advantage.

"The children were wonderful.  That's how I started learning.  I started studying the language and the children started teaching me how to count and speak," he says.

"Once we got that exchange, our relationship changed - they were happy they were giving me something too and I was more comfortable.  That was a real cultural exchange."

The highlight of the experience, however, remains the stage production of "Cinderella" he helped plan, choreograph and even perform in as the prince with the students at the Belle Ballet School in Surabaya.

"They had such challenging ideas and concepts.  I had to give it my all.  There was no holding back," he says.

"This was the first time I really felt I used my education," he continues, looking back on the experience.  "It was a wonderful challenge and I learned a lot about myself - to use my strength to help them and to recognize my weaknesses and use them too."

Local dance suffering

Despite his extensive experience abroad, Johnson now lives at home in Nassau, teaching through Roderick's Dance School and as a teacher of performing arts and dance at C.I. Gibson Senior High and L.W. Young Junior High School. 

But his experience this summer in Indonesia especially opened his eyes to what he sees as an incredible lack of encouragement in the local dance industry.

"I have to work hard to have parents register their kids to dance because they don't see it as a career, just a fairy tale thing to do," he says, pointing out that he sees parents withdraw children from his classes who show true promise.

"I think it's due to a lack of exposure and lack of trust in the arts," he continues.
 
"In Indonesia, it's the opposite - students in Belle Ballet get scholarships to study abroad all over."

The reason for this lack of trust, he says, partially stems from the lack of investment that the country and the government put into artists - that same investment he experienced years ago at the birth of Bahamian independence when he was a young and eager dancer.

"I've met dancers who are now security guards.  If I were not teaching high school here to get by, I would not be here," he says.  "During independence, The Bahamas invested in me - gave me money to study abroad and bring it back, and The Bahamas now is not investing in me; they do not see me as an investment."

Indeed, he says, that initial investment is not enough, as artists need to continue to be sustained and encouraged to preserve and create Bahamian culture through their media of expression.  He points out that while living abroad, he received grants from the Canada Arts Council just to experiment - not to mention the various scholarships for his studies there - whereas here there is almost no funding for such endeavors and support.

It is only through these programs that art - especially the teaching of art forms - can become accessible, utilized and indeed accepted by the larger public to grow a vibrant and creative society and industry, he points out.

"When I was introduced to dance in Nassau, it had been part of our culture and we used it to educate people through the arts, and we've found it hard to get to that place again," he says.

"We need to take art to the regular public to educate them."

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