ABBY Dallas is applauding recent news that Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts is poised to expand its curriculum to facilitate all forms of creative skills.

According to Leighton Jones, director for School of Continuing Education and Allied Programmes, “With the expected boom in creative and the request from applicants for training in non-traditional courses, the institution is poised to write the programme for the different requests.”

Abby Dallas said that with the boom in technology and the recent lockdown due to COVID-19, many youths have become innovative and yearn for training in a number of creative areas.

“Edna Manley College, which has a reputation of quality training, gave me that training in music which allows me to stand up against international singers,” the graduate of the institution told the Jamaica Observer.

Abby Dallas is currently promoting Poppy Show, released on the Okaro 2020 Entertainment Ltd label on May 14 last year.

“This is a song for the men who brag about their bedroom adventures and, in fact, they cannot stand up to the test,” she said.

Poppy Show showcases another side of Abby Dallas.

Born in Duhaney Park, St Andrew, she grew up in Portmore.

“I knew I was talented as early as age five, when my father, Kenneth, gave me a purple and pink microphone which I used to entertain my friends at basic school. I grew up appreciating all types of music, including jazz,” she said.

In 2005, while attending Bridgeport High, Abby Dallas copped the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) award for Best Junior Soloist in the island. This secured for her a four-year scholarship to Edna Manley College, graduating in 2010.

Two years after graduating from Edna Manley College, she won the JCDC Popular Song competition with a song titled Real Born Jamaican.

Her other songs include From My Heart, One and Only, Gold Digger, and He’s Just Not Into You.