CO-FOUNDER of the National Dance Theatre Company (NDTC) and celebrated authority in Jamaican dancer-theatre Sheila Barnett, died at the Andrews Memorial Hospital in St Andrew on Saturday, March 19, after a prolonged illness. She was 83.

As a dancer, choreographer, dance educator, researcher and author, Barnett contributed more than five decades to the development of dance in the Caribbean, including years with the pioneering Ivy Baxter Creative Dance Group, of which she was a founding member. She was also a co-founder and the first director of the Jamaica School of Dance, of the now Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts.

With the NDTC, she doubled as a principal dancer and choreographer, creating 17 works between 1963 and 1989.

Barnett, formerly a senior education officer of the Ministry of Education, was instrumental in introducing dance into the school curriculum. She was a major resource person on Caribbean dance for ministries of education throughout the region and an expert dance educator and lecturer at various educational institutions including the Excelsior High School, St Joseph’s Teachers’ College and The University of the West Indies. She also served as a senior adjudicator and advisor to the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission.

She was a recipient of the national honour — Order of Distinction, Commander Class, as well as the prestigious Silver Musgrave Medal and Centenary Medal, both from the Institute of Jamaica.

She is survived by her husband Felix, three children, Rona, Patricia and Joan, grandson Anton, sisters Jean and Suzie, as well as brothers Ronan and Carl, who are also past members of the NDTC.