Sheba Monsterrat

‘I hope to convey to my class participants that dancing isn’t just about hearing music and looking good whilst expressing it. It’s about feeling the music and the conscious delight in embodying it.’ Sheba teaches Caribbean dance classes on Rambert Home Studio, and in person to our local community. And you won’t just learn to dance in Sheba’s classes- you’ll also learn about Caribbean and Black British history, and how the movements Sheba’s teaches you came about and developed over time. In 1999, Sheba was one of five graduates who were the first people in Europe to gain a formal diploma qualification in African and Caribbean dance through IRIE! Dance Theatre and Birkbeck University. Since then, she has gone on to become a teacher, choreographer, performance poet and stand-up comedian, communicating through her body and words. We asked Sheba who inspires her. ‘Oprah Winfrey is my ultimate role model. Despite all the barriers that confronted her, she has managed to create an empire, which allows her to communicate to the world. I also admire the African American comedian Dave Chapelle. He has a unique way of interpreting life, and uses comedy to belittle the power structures and systems that negatively encroach on the quality of the lives we live.’