In 2012, Jamaica-born UK-based dancer and choreographer Carlton ‘Jackie’ Guy was made a member of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE). He was invited to Buckingham Palace to receive his award from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of his outstanding contribution to dance education in the United Kingdom.

Come October 19, Guy will travel to Jamaica to receive the Order of Distinction in the rank of Commander for his invaluable contribution to the arts, at the annual National Honours and Awards Ceremony at King’s House in St Andrew.

It was an elated Guy who spoke to the Sunday Observer from his Brixton base in south London. He said nothing beats receiving an honour from the Jamaican government and it people.

“I was in shock when I received the official notice. The truth is somebody did tell me that my name was being mentioned, but then I heard nothing. When it finally came I was so delighted,” he said.

“The truth is, people have been saying to me: ‘Jackie, you have been working in the arts for such a long time, when are they gonna give you a national award?’. Then England gave me the MBE and it would seem like it is only after you have been recognised by England that your own is ready to honour you. But my take is man awards, but God rewards. I am so pleased to be given this honour by my own country that I am making every effort to be in Jamaica for the event,” Guy continued.

Jackie Guy’s journey in the arts has been close to 50 years. He admits to always being a great social dancer along with his sister Claudette, but his entry into the world of the performing arts and dance in particular began after his family moved to the community of Harbour View in eastern St Andrew. There, the boys of the community would stand watch as veteran dance teacher Alma Mock Yen would take her female dancers through the paces.

Fate would have it that one day Mock Yen, in a bid to get more male dancers into her troupe, invited a young Guy to come inside.

“This was 1965. I had seen the musical West Side Story and was so intrigued by the music and movement. I think I brought that same street dance energy to Alma Mock Yen’s group. I soon landed a job at RJR and would leave dance to concentrate on my job as an accountant. However, by 1968 Eddie Thomas invited me to join the NDTC (National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica). I didn’t take him up on the offer immediately and Professor Nettleford would then write me a letter inviting me to join the company… well when Prof invites you, you respond immediately,” Guy recalled.

Unfortunately, by the time Guy joined the NDTC, co-founder Thomas would have parted ways with the company. However, he would benefit from the diversity of choreographic styles from the likes of Netteford, Bert Rose, Shiela Barnett, Neville Black, among others. He would spend 15 years with the company.

Among his favourite works were I not I, Ni Woman of Destiny, Street People and Nettleford’s epic Kumina.

“I love our traditional folk forms. I am Afrocentric in my beliefs and, therefore, I just love the way the body moves, undulates and pulsates…it is the echoes of the ancestors.”

His love for the folk forms was a perfect fit with the NDTC, which was firmly grounded in preserving that aspect of Jamaican and Caribbean dance culture.

Guy is, therefore, critical of the particularly North American influences which he sees creeping into the repertoire of the NDTC.

“I don’t want to be critical of anyone, and I love young people and the energy they bring, but Professor Nettleford would say ‘we lose when the fertiliser becomes the soil and kills the tree, particularly when the fertiliser is foreign’. I think the NDTC needs to re-look at the philosophy of Nettleford and not lose the essence of what the NDTC is all about. If they are talking about renewal and continuity, they must evaluate their purpose, look and what makes the NDTC unique and hone the style developed by Nettleford.”

Guy’s all-time favourite Jamaican dancer is Patsy Ricketts, whom he describes as a spirit.

“She brought such a high standard of work to the NDTC by revolutionising how the female dancer looked on stage and raised the technical level of dancers. She covered such a broad spectrum of dance from classical to folk forms to modern, and respected them all. When she was on stage she was like a spirit… she was on a higher level. I can still see her dancing alongside Barry Moncrieffe in The Crossing Wander, Love and Rays and Court of Jah.”

The NDTC would share Guy’s time and interest with the Social Development Commission, The Jamaica Cultural Development Commission, The National Pantomime and the University Dance Society, where he spent 18 years as artistic director. But in 1987 Guy felt the need for change and relocated to England where he still resides.

His work in the UK has seen him being involved with the Kokuma Dance Company. He has also gone on to choreograph the stage adaptation of the Perry Henzel film The Harder They Come, the only black musical to play in London’s West End.

“This felt like it was something I was destined to do. Trevor Rhone co-wrote The Harder They Come with Henzel and he also wrote the 1972 National Pantomime Music Boy, which both had a similar story line. I choreographed Music Boy in ’72 and then the opportunity arose for the musical The Harder They Come in 2006.”

Guy is currently working on publishing his autobiography and hopes to take his work in to schools and communities .

“My work right now is about shifting the paradigms. Most of our history is tucked away in musems. I want to take it to the people, in their communities where they need it most.”