J’can dancers in UK open up about missing home - Pair stuck in Scotland after performances of Lion King Tour cancelled
Published:Thursday | April 23, 2020 | 12:00 AMStephanie Lyew/Gleaner Writer
A diet of pseudo Jamaican food – canned callaloo and boiled dumplings, or cock soup made with squash instead of pumpkin – is the only thing that brings the flavour of home to Oraine Frater and Tara Price, a pair of Jamaican dancers stranded in the United Kingdom because of the COVID-19 lockdown. The pair along with the rest of the company of The Lion King UK were in the middle of the Scottish leg of that tour, lighting up the stages of UK’s largest all-seated theatre, the Edinburgh Playhouse, which accommodates a maximum of 2,500 persons, when the unthinkable happened. On Sunday, March 15, the Scottish government passed a ban on gatherings of more than 500 persons in an enclosed area.
“It is a peculiar contrast for a dancer, when a crisis like this which stops you from moving presents itself. What we do for a living is move. And to be told to stop working and stay inside, from being extremely active to not, is a major change to what we are used to,” Price told The Gleaner.
The show was originally postponed until the third week of April and would have moved on to the third city, Bradford in West Yorkshire, England, for two months, but last week, the dancers were informed of its cancellation.
Price explained that the British cast members were advised to go home while the international recruits would remain in Edinburgh – though some moved quickly to get back to their respective homes before borders were officially closed. The Jamaican dance recruits said they did not have enough information to leave and staying put was the best option.
“I am happy to have a housemate, and I am not physically alone, plus the fact that he is Jamaican, there is a deeper understanding. Oraine is someone I get along with generally. On a tour away from our families we are close, as I think we all should be. It’s not easy what we do, so we lean on each other for emotional support,” she said.
“The exposure has been good – not just as a dancer on tour from another country – to experience the various cultures that are part of the diverse cast. And the show is authentic to what it represents. With its pause, Disney has been interacting and supporting us as best as possible, and we have had to be patient though. It is, of course, an as-you-go process, working through the uncertainty.”
Staying sound and active
A tear-jerking story told by another international cast member, Price said, has her emotional about the separation from her own family.
“I just started crying; one of the South African cast members was speaking to me about his toddler who he has been trying to maintain communication with just so he can hear her say daddy for the first time. I want to be home. I don’t have children but I am a daughter of a mother who is elderly and has her own issues with health,” Price tearfully described being homesick. “We have to be grateful. We are still contracted to the Disney Lion King and I am hearing of persons getting laid off. Right now, finding little things that remind us of home, including the food which I am missing, taking a stroll to the South African food store for plantains will have to do.”
Frater said: “We are just trying to keep each other sane and, though the state of Scotland is not as bad as other countries, we are taking it very seriously – sticking to the rules of the lockdown and quarantining until further notice. I can’t believe in a few months we would be looking forward to celebrating one year.”
The dancers’ contracts end in August, but in light of the pandemic they anticipate not only re-engagement and reintroduction of the tour but a shift is likely to occur as the lockdown pans out across Europe.
“Theatre is where it all started for me. I have been on the stage since I was four years old. Because of this I have considered it my second home, but nothing beats being home where you feel safer,” Price said. “It shook me when I realised I’d be locked out of the place of my birth for an unknown time – I feel so displaced – which though heartbreaking, I was impressed with the response of the Jamaican Government.”
The Lion King UK Tour cast has gone from balancing a schedule with sometimes two shows in one day and one day off per week to being clear of responsibilities. They do their best to exercise and practise their dance routines inside.
“I can’t speak for Oraine but right now, at this stage of my career and with the challenging times we are facing, I am not strong enough to take on an endeavour as it relates to securing income. However, as a creative I am inspired by those dancers on social media doing their best to maintain their relevancy and support themselves. I have to be in a good place but who knows, maybe I will start with small tutorials of choreography.”