BEHIND THE CULTURE SERIES

By Tracy Moore

When Nandi Yard is asked to sum up performing during this season in one word, she doesn’t even pause.

“Pace,” she says, with the quiet certainty of someone who knows exactly how to match her heartbeat to the rhythm of the stage. For her, performance is a delicate balance — moving fast enough to capture the energy of the music, but steady enough to stay grounded in the moment. It’s a pace she has perfected over years of dancing, teaching, choreographing, and living in motion.

But Nandi is not only a dancer. She’s a teacher, a choreographer, a football player, a biker, and, perhaps most unexpectedly, a master’s student in renewable energy at the University of the West Indies – Cave Hill.

It is from these varied experiences, be they exciting or mundane, that Nandi gets her inspiration to do what she does best.

“I get inspiration at the most random times,” she laughs. “I could be walking through a store, and suddenly I’ll put together a ‘five, six, seven, eight’ in my head. Then I have to either record it or hold on to it until I can work it into music.”

Her process is fluid. Sometimes she builds choreography around lyrics or a particular melody. Other times, she moves with the rhythm, switching between beats to find what feels right. This adaptability is rooted in a childhood steeped in the traditions of Barbados’ cultural scene.

“I grew up in traditional cultural groups here, so the focus was on African dance, folk, and soca,” Nandi explains. “But I also trained at a few dance schools, learning ballet, modern, jazz, dancehall. Any genre, any style – I feel like I can learn something from all of them.”

That curiosity has made her a versatile performer, equally at home in the grounded power of traditional steps and the sleek lines of classical ballet. Her rehearsal schedules are often packed, but it’s the final performance – the lights, the music, the shared energy with her fellow dancers — that makes it all worthwhile.

“You’ve got the band, the lights, the dancers you’ve been planning and rehearsing with, and the audience receiving it,” she says. “It can be a little stressful at the start, but in the end, it’s such a rewarding feeling.”

For Nandi, the stage is more than just a platform. It’s a place where every beat is a conversation, every movement a declaration, and every performance a reminder that peace can be found — not in stillness, but in motion when it’s nothing but pace.

tracymoore@barbadostoday.bb