ABOUT Jeannine Remy

SESSION TITLE: Dancing on Steel: A Multi-movement Work for Steel Band and Choreographed Dance inspired by Cultural Practices from Trinidad and Tobago

VIRTUAL SESSION DATE & TIME: Coming soon…

The UWI Arts Steel (UAS) is the premier performing steel ensemble at the Department of Creative and Festival Arts (DCFA) at the Faculty of Humanities and Education (FHE) at the University of the West Indies (UWI) in St. Augustine, Trinidad. In 2002, the UAS was awarded the first place in the World Steelband Festival held in Trinidad. The ensemble was then formally adopted by the then Centre for Creative and Festival Arts, The UWI. The ensemble is currently co-directed by Jessel Murray and Khion De Las. Under their direction, the UAS has performed nationally, regionally and internationally. Their most recent regional performance was the gold-medal act at the 51st Festival of Culture of Fort-de-France in Martinique under the auspices of SERMAC (2022). Other tours have included Massachusetts, North Carolina and New York (2004; 2008; 2010), the University of the West Indies in Cavehill, Barbados (2012), and Belize and Mexico (2017). 

The UAS is one of a handful of steel music ensembles within Trinidad where members are technically proficient and completely musically literate. The entire repertoire of the orchestra is a collection of classical works (original and transcriptions), calypso and soca arrangements, inclusive of Panorama transcriptions, jazz and music of the Caribbean diaspora. In partnership with the UWI Arts Chorale, the ensemble has continuously presented complete masterworks to local audiences including Orff Carmina Burana (2013; 2018); Bernstein Chichester Psalms (2018), Rutter Gloria (2019) and the Fauré Requiem (2022). In 2024, the UAS in collaboration with the UWI Arts Festival Ensemble presented the critically acclaimed world premiere performance of Jeannine Remy’s suite, Dancing on Steel at the Naparima Bowl in San Fernando, Trinidad.