Once again, Clara Reyes' Imball Center for Dance and Creative Movement is making headlines: This time, thanks to 10 year old dance student, Jeremiah David, who recently won 1st place with honors in the "Preparation classical ballet" at the "Concours Fédération Régionale de Dance Guadeloupe 2011" - the Regional Dance Federation of Guadeloupe Competition 2011.
As a result, Jeremiah was one of the two Imbali student to participate in the "Confédération Nationale de Danse, Concours National 2011" in Amiens, France. The competition involved about 2500 dancers from France and the world.
And now St. Maarten has a new hero! Jeremiah won the gold medal in Classical Ballet Preparation 1, ending first of 153 candidates!. Furthermore, Diofanny Diaz, 14, from Imbali, ended third with a bronze medal in the Jazz Category 2.
And the French side got it's fair share too: Youlia Charbonnier, from the Temps Danse school, won a silver medal, ending second in Jazz.
Those results definitively prove that, although being a very small Caribbean island, St. Martin has evidently some of the best dance schools in the world, with no lack of talents able to win at prestigious international competitions. Those trips to Guadeloupe and Paris were made possible by hard efforts from the dance schools and the help of private sponsors. Maybe the authorities on both sides of the island should realize that such treasures deserve some financial support, since they contribute so much to the prestige of St. Martin.
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