Beautiful Rivalry

She was once his rival but now his partner ...this best describes the start of a striking dance partnership between Kemar Bennett and Ivanna Strancaric.

The two recently made a special appearance at the 2015 Legends of the floor amateur ballroom and Latin dance competition hosted annually by the Livvy and Betty Alleyne dance centre.

With 11 years experience in dance, which started at the aforementioned dance centre, Kemar recalled his amateur years. “The first few months started as a punishment” he admitted.

 After being kicked out of chess club he took up Ballroom dancing, “I was forced to take Ballroom classes...It was Horrible,” He mentioned or so he thought.

But little did he know he was in for a surprise, “I went to Trinidad with the [Dance]group,” said Kemar. That very trip he added “Opened my eyes to the fact that there’s a lot of opportunity and [dance] is something I enjoy doing.”

Kemar’s dance instructors never let up “, Uncle Livvy always use to scream at me about having good technique [while] Aunty Betty yelled bout practicing always,” said Kemar.

Drilling those fundamentals made him the pro dancer he is today, as Kemar admits “They [Livingstone and Betty Alleyne] built the foundation that got me to be as disciplined as I am...wanting to grow and work hard “

I started to take dancing more seriously and started to branch out and look for other things outside of Barbados and see where it can go.

Kemar who now resides overseas shared that “A year ago, I actually first saw Ivana at a competition we competed against each other …in Boston Quincy” said Kemar.

From there he approached her on partnership, the two currently partners one year now. But what does he like the most about Ivana as a partner? “Everything"he admits with laughter.

“ It is just a calming exciting partnership there is just never real moments of frustration” he said,  adding that there’s always room for humor, “ Always a moment to laugh ...makes a difference as were working so hard, that we can actually enjoy [dancing] at the same time.”

“I would definitely agree on the fun part” Ivanna approved.  She added that sometimes she and Kemar don’t feel like practicing especially in the morning because of the three and a half hour distance

“it gets …. Uhhh I don’t want to do it and then somehow when you start to dance your energy just grows and we do our thing,” said Ivana.

The two are also professional dance instructors of the Fred Astaire Franchise Dance Studios, so this being her first time in Barbados, after last Saturdays competition Ivana believes dance in Barbados has lots of potential “I think with good training which I think [local dancers] have and practice they would be very good.”

Kemar who is also pleased with the level of dance exhibited wants to urge Barbadians and local fans especially to continuously support the youth that dance, “realize that they actually love it and they enjoy it.”- “The only way they can progress is if they have the funding and the emotional support to keep [dancing]."

He too stress that Patrons never under estimate that attendance at competitions such as legends of the floor , “ This is big as it might seem small but when we are on the floor competing and people around us actually screaming ...supporting you” that he stressed “  makes  the world of difference.” (RT)

"Highlights"