COCO Dance Festival will celebrate Caribbean dance pioneer Garth Fagan and will host his company, Garth Fagan Dance, for two shows at Queen's Hall, St Ann's.

Born and raised in Jamaica, Fagan is the choreographer and multiple-award winner of The Lion King, and one of his assistant choreographers, Trinidad and Tobago-born Natalie Rogers-Cropper, is now the executive director of the company.

Rogers-Cropper, who, along with artistic director Norwood “PJ” Pennewell will be leading the tour, says they are “thrilled to be participating in the Coco Dance Festival and sharing for the first time, the artistry of Garth Fagan Dance with the beautiful people of TT,” a media release said.

[caption id="attachment_1113447" align="alignnone" width="663"] Garth Fagan - Photo courtesy Matt Whitmeyer[/caption]

This year the festival departs from its regular format of presenting several curated works from various choreographers from the region and beyond.

On this change, Coco co-director Sonja Dumas said in the release, "We think of this as a full-circle moment for these Caribbean dance artists who have made such incredible strides both at home and in the international performing arts world. It is truly a celebration of Caribbean excellence."

The company, whose archives have been acquired by the US Library of Congress, will perform on October 12 and 13 at 7 pm. It will also host a series of workshops for students as well as pre-professional and professional dancers.

Tickets are available at Queen’s Hall, Paper Based Bookshop, the Coco team and online.

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