5 Questions with Shelley Maxwell

Performing artiste, Shelley Maxwell, continues to wave the Jamaican flag high, despite living miles away in the United Kingdom for more than a decade.

The latest instance of this is her work as a choreographer in the Bob Marley musical, Get Up, Stand Up, nominated in four categories including Best New Musical of the year at the Olivier Awards slated for Sunday at The Royal Albert Hall in London.

Maxwell’s choreography journey traces back to the formation of the Wolmer’s Dance Troupe where she was a dance captain and founding member. This was a natural progression after the once football enthusiast joined the Wolmer’s Prep dance group under the guidance of Adrian Fletcher and Barbara McDaniel. Her training and strides as a dancer continued as a teenager where she did summer classes at the Alvin Aieley Centre in New York and varied dance studios in London. Her passion took her to Cuba’s National School of Dance and dance entities like Xamayca Dance Company and The National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica.

Maxwell’s move to London was initially to do graduate studies in choreography, and expanded after the realisation that the city had additional creative opportunities. Consequently, she formed part of London’s Tavaziva Dance Company and expanded her portfolio to movement choreography, working with directors and actors “to determine the feel and flow of characters”.

Maxwell speaks about this and more in this week’s Five Questions With.

1. How long have you been a movement director?

I would say I’ve been an informal movement director from I started doing choreography at age 13. But officially, I didn’t attach the title of movement director to my name until 2015.

2. What stands as the most resonating piece you’ve movement-directed and why?

The piece that I hold dear from a standpoint of movement direction is the play Equus directed by Ned Bennett in London 2019. During that creative process, I was able to pull on a lot of my dance experience and choreographic background to create a hybrid world in which my movement direction and choreography were working in tandem. It was a very fulfilling project to work on and be a part of.

3. Considering your work on the ‘Bob Marley Get Up, Stand Up’ musical, how has your training/work in Jamaica come full circle with the work you’ve been doing in London over the years?

I was charged with creating dance steps and movement for the actors playing I-Three, the Wailers, Bob and the cast; choreography that is a reflection of our Jamaican culture but also reflective of a specific period of time in our history. It felt very much like coming full circle as I pulled on my experiences from growing up in Jamaica and also on the dance training I had received in so many of our various dance forms and aesthetics.

4. You had mentioned in a 2018 interview that you wanted to expand your career to film and TV. Your agent mentioned that you are currently on set. Is this current project in line with that?

Happily, I have been blessed to work on quite a few film and television projects since then and am actually currently on set for Amazon’s upcoming TV series, Anansi Boys.

5. What advice would you give to people about pursuing their heart’s desires?

For whatever reason, I’ve never been afraid to jump or rather take leaps of faith. Each time those leaps were always bolstered by my belief in self. I think the best advice I can give is that you have to believe in yourself and your dreams. If you don’t believe in them, how can you expect others to believe in them for you? Remaining steadfast is hard work because many things will arise to create doubt and to put roadblocks in front of you but if you are passionate about what you do and what you desire, then you have to put the effort in to keep the fire burning from within. Trust in yourself. Bet on you.

sade.gardner@gleanerjm.com