Queen of the Dance: Sharon Rolle

Sharon Rolle was a self-professed “tomboy”. But the day she sauntered into my interview room, she was a lady with sparkling eyes, pageboy hair cut, bedecked in a halter top with a fusion of pinkish-purple colours that partially draped her slim figure. And then there where the capri-like, skin tight, purple leggings. Wearing leggings at 3:00pm in the middle of the afternoon spilled another of Sharon’s secrets. She was a tomboy, a lady and also a dancer. Some might even say that she is the new queen of the dance…at least that is what she is inspiring to be. She has had a few stumbling blocks along the way and even now, she still has a few to overcome. But one thing that is for certain about this young lady is that she is determined and strong willed. She doesn’t see her dreams as just mere fantasies, but she’s planting the seeds that would put them within her grasp. Sharon admits that she never pursued a white collar career but rather one that is artistic and colourful like the rainbow coloured bangles that kept clanging on her left wrist. Her love for the dance will spill over onto these pages as she brings new life to E-Life in this interview.

eLIFE 242: So tell me a little about yourself.
Sharon: My name is Sharon Rolle. I am 22 years old. My birthday is July 18th, 1986. I was born in Freeport, Grand Bahama but I grew up in Nassau from the time I was 6 months to the 8th grade. Then I came back here (Freeport, Grand Bahama). The schools that I went to in Nassau were Carmichael Primary, Carlton Francis and Prince Williams. When I came back to Freeport, I went to St. George’s High. I graduated in 2004. Oh, and I did spend some time at Walter Parker Primary as well.

eLIFE 242: So Sharon what was it like growing up? What was your family life like?
Sharon: As for my family life, ..well, we are pretty closely knit. It’s just my Mom, my sisters and my two brothers. I am the last out of eight kids…on both sides (chuckles). I am the baby and I love it (laughs). But we love being together. Growing up I was a bit rude and a bit of a tomboy but you would’ve never guessed because I am a girly girl now. As for the way I was raised, I wouldn’t change anything for the world because it made who I am today.

eLIFE 242: Hold up, Sharon, you said you were rude. What happened? That is not the type of person I see today.
Sharon: Well, when I was growing up, if someone told me not to do something, I knew I wasn’t suppose to do it and I did it just because they told me not to. I wanted to find out why. It was pure curiosity – and they say curiosity killed the cat. That’s right, it died.
eLIFE 242: (Laughs)
Sharon: (laughing) That cat is dead. I got licked for every single time. I knew it would happen… but I just wanted to find out why I wasn’t suppose to do it… then I wouldn’t do it again.

eLIFE 242: How did you first become interested in dance?
Sharon: When I was young, my mother enrolled my sister Carmel and I into dance school when I was six years old and I later went to The Bahamas Dance Academy with Julian and Roslyn Collie when I was in the 9th grade. Ever since I started with Julian Collie, I got a passion for it but I never thought that I would have made a career out of it. But I found great interest in doing dance after I went to The Bahamas Dance Theater in Freeport.

eLIFE 242: Where did you get your international training and how rigorous was it?
Sharon: After I graduated, I stayed a year in Grand Bahama and then I moved to England and got enrolled in the Performers College in Essex, London in England. It is a one-year programme but after you do the one year programme, you get enrolled in the three year programme. The training there was extremely rigorous but it was awesome because we had trainers from Russia and all over the world, pretty much, who do choreography for persons like Missy Elliot and the like. We got hands on training for this type of choreography. At the end of that foundation course, we auditioned to get into the three-year course. There were 800 students who auditioned to get into the first year, and they only allow 100-120 students in per year and I made it in the top 25. That was an excellent accomplishment. I was allowed to get a scholarship but the only reason I didn’t get it was because I am not a British citizen. It sucks but if I was a British citizen, I pretty much would have been there right now. I had to come back home and work. Things are tough.

eLIFE 242: At what point in your life did you say, “you know what, I want to take this thing to the next level”?
Sharon: When I got in the 11th grade, The Bahamas Dance Theater did a production of Kaleidoscope and from then I found it quite interesting. Then on TV, they brought out a lot of dance shows. Honestly, I wasn’t really interested in high school. I always wanted to do dance and be in the field of entertainment. It was a talent that I have and I figured, God gave me this talent and I would use it to the best of my ability. I figured, I wasn’t too shabby. (chuckles)

eLIFE 242: Did you have any type of stumbling blocks in your way and how did you get over them?
Sharon: I am not the most fortunate person and I am not the poorest either, but finances was the biggest thing for me. Auditioning is the biggest hurdle that you have if you want to get into a school. Once you pass your auditions you can make it but the only thing that stops you is the money. That is the reason I am not in school now but I will be very, very soon. I am looking at going back to England in August.

eLIFE 242: What were some of the benefits of choosing this career?
Sharon: Ohh, you get to travel the world. It is amazing. You get to meet new people. You get to experience different cultures and different types of dances. We had modern, contemporary, ballet, jazz, hip hop. Everything you could think of in dance is what you get to learn. It broadens your horizons quite a bit.

eLIFE 242: I take it you like traveling a lot. What parts of the world have you seen?
Sharon: Well, last year (2007), I entered Miss Bahamas Universe and I was the first runner-up, which got me the Miss Earth title. So, with that I got a lot of travel experience. I went to Jamaica for a competition. I traveled to China for Miss Global. I went to the Philippines, to Vietnam and to Taiwan. So I did a whole lot of traveling and the cultures there are extremely different but the people were amazing and the food… (laughs) love the food. Even their dance skills are amazing – which we saw when they took us to a few of their shows. It really opens your eyes quite a bit.

eLIFE 242: What are you doing now and what are your future goals?
Sharon: Well, at the moment I am on break. I am getting everything ready to go back to England – at Bird College or back to Performers College. So right now I am on a break. I have a lot of gigs lined up so, you know, I am staying in shape. (laughs)

eLIFE 242: Who inspires you and Why?
Sharon: I would say my Mom, because she was the one who enrolled me into dance classes. As I grew up, when I went off to school, I realized that Margot Fonteyn (de Arias) is an excellent, excellent dancer. She is not an all around dancer but she is excellent in classical ballet. That’s not what I want to do but as I dancer, she inspires me. I want to specialize in modern and contemporary dance but as a minor, I will do jazz and classical ballet.

eLIFE 242: You know we here at eLIFE 242 very nosey, (laughs) but we really want to know where you are personally too. Are you dating, getting married or single?
Sharon: I’m dating (laughs).
eLIFE 242: How important is family to you? Are there some things you would want to accomplish before you decide to settle down?
Sharon: Family is extremely important to me. I know I should not put an age on it right now but at the age of 26 or 27 , I do want to start a family. After I finish college, I do want to travel and go into West End, Grand Bahama and do tours and choreography and open up my own school; but when I open up my school, I want to settle down with my family. Family is everything. It is the right thing to do… it is a beautiful thing.

eLIFE 242: If you had you had the chance to live your life all over again, would you choose the same path or would you do some things differently?
Sharon: I would choose some things differently because they deterred me from where I wanted to be and where I could have been right now. But, if I had the choice to do it, I don’t think I would because everything moves you and frames you into the person that you are and that you are going to be. Everything is a learning experience. So if I had not gone through everything that I went through in my whole life, I would not know whether I should do this. I would not be the same person. It helped me grow.

eLIFE 242: So basically, you have come a long way from being that tomboy?
Sharon: (Laughs) Yes. Believe it or not, if you had seen me three years ago, you would not believe I was the same person. Honestly, there was a drastic transformation.

eLIFE 242: So, dance transformed you?
Sharon: ahh, oh um…well…no…boys did. (Chuckles)

eLIFE 242: hahahaha I hope you know we’re keeping that in the interview. That was too cute.
Sharon: (laughing) Well, Vanessa, you know it was not in a derogatory way. I dated a guy who knew I was a tomboy and he would buy me these nice beautiful things and nicks and knacks and basically, he turned me into this beautiful swan that I am right now. (laughs) I have to thank him because he saw me in those little baggy clothes and he saw the possibilities. (laughs out loud)

eLIFE 242: This is the last question my dear and it’s for all of those aspiring dancers out there. What advice would you give them if they really want to seriously pursue this career?
Sharon: You have to be able to take rejection, first and foremost. If your heart is not in it, then don’t do it because even if you feel as if you are strong, rejection can make or break you. You can be the best dancer in the world but when you go into an audition, you can be missing that one spark that they want and because you don’t have it, they will reject you. You must be strong enough to take rejection and critique because you will not please everybody.  If you have any doubts in your mind about doing this, that means you are not suppose to do it.  If you say you want to be a dancer and a doctor – no – it is impossible. You need to do one thing. If you want to go to school for dance, do that but don’t minor in it. You have to go all the way and put your whole heart in what you choose to do. That is what I did. Fashion designing is something that I would have fallen back on but I did not pursue that because I know at the end of the day, being a dancer, choreographer and being a dance teacher is what I want to do and what I want to be.