Alphonso A Henry was born on the 6th December 1991 and raised in the close knit community of Market Street. From an early age, Alphonso knew that his chosen career path and profession lied in the art of dance and over the years has taken many of the necessary steps to attain his goal of being a professional dancer and choreographer.

Alphonso’s passion for dance blossomed when in November 2006 he joined the Okolo Tegremantine Arts Theatre, one of the oldest and only African dance and drumming theatres on the island of St Kitts and Nevis.The group recently celebrated Forty years (40) of existence in May of 2013. After dancing with the Okolo Tegremantine Arts Theatre for Four (4) years he was given the opportunity to travel to Jamaica to attend the Edna Manley School of Visual and Performing Arts. There, he received training in Ballet, Modern, Jazz, African, Afro- Caribbean, Dancehall and Caribbean Folk dances at their annual Summer Dance Workshop. This experience helped to propel his dance career and he hasn’t stopped yet.

‘Phonse, as he is affectionately called, ,joined the CFBC Dance Ensemble while a student there and today is a tutor and choreographer for this group. He was responsible for the dynamic choreography of Christopher Tin’s Baba Yetu, a piece performed by the CFBC Dance Ensemble at their 2012 production. In November of 2013 he graduated from the Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College (CFBC) with an Associated Degree in Hospitality Studies Management. Alphonso also has a love for pageantry and to date has choreographed a number of winning talent performances in addition to unforgettable opening numbers for several national pageants. Would you believe he still finds time to guest tutor for the Children’s Dance Theatre and be a member of the Creative Sole Dance Company from 2011- Present?

Dance has offered Alphonso several travel opportunities as he had the honour and privilege of representing his twin island federation of St. Kitts and Nevis in countries such as; Washington D.C., New York and Taiwan just to name a few. After returning from South Korea in 2012, Alphonso decided to do a One (1) week Dance and Drumming workshop entitled “UMOJA”. Since then Alphonso has staged two (2) successful workshops and is on the verge of hosting a third (3rd) this summer as he believes that through the medium of dance we can unite as a people, hence the name “UMOJA’.

Currently, Mr. Henry is a Teacher’s Assistant at his former Primary School, the Beach Allen Primary. However, he also visits various government schools in Basseterre and teaches dance to those who are interested in the art-form but are unable to afford classes. He is hoping to pursue a degree in dance in the near future and his ultimate dream is to be a member of the cast of the hit Broadway show, the Lion King.

If Alphonso is your favorite, vote for him here: http://www.culturamanevis.com/c40/mr-kool/