A life of d
Esther Hamer has given 33 years of her life to dance having taken up the art at 4 years old. Though passionate about dance, over the years, Esther has also found herself drawn to other art forms: drama, designing, producing and directing all while being a full-time mother and wife.
“My mother is what I would call a performing arts enthusiast. She likes music, dance, drama and does a bit of knitting and sewing. She got me involved in dance after seeing me wining to the old funeral song that used to play on the radio. After she saw that, she thought to find a dance school and that’s how I got enrolled in the National School of Dance. So, my mother was one of the key factors in pushing me to dance,” Esther explained.
Her father danced too; waltzes and club dancing. He taught Esther to waltz. He was her first dance teacher. He also did portraits. Her sister, Esther said, danced during her primary and high school years but moved on to dressmaking and design. Her sister along with her brother drew really well though they never took it up professionally. Esther’s grandmother on her mother’s side was involved in drama and was also a member of her church choir. So, there was a foundation and reinforcement as regards her life in dancing and the arts.
Esther attended the Bishops’ High School and found herself in the arts stream. She described herself to be “stubborn” back in school and only focusing on the subjects she liked, which were just a few: History, Geography and Social Studies; she hated Mathematics. “I honestly did not like school. It was only because my mother asked me if I wanted to pull donkey cart for the rest of my life. I mean nothing is wrong with those who do that but that was not what I wanted to do so I tried to focus more in school.
“I was more interested in drawing, reading and athletics; long jump was my line. I actually regret not showing interest in some of the things that were offered like music classes when they were free and I had the time,” she shared.
Some of the challenges she faced included having to deal with persons from various backgrounds and being someone who said what she wanted to say whenever she wanted to say it, got her into trouble more than once. She struggled with this in her younger years, today it is not much of an issue anymore. Another was not being as flexible as is required of a dancer; certain routines meant her working harder at her flexibility than a taller dancer would. Now that she is older, it has become more challenging and she has to work harder. Standing out as a woman dancer of African ethnicity is also challenging, Esther said, since there are many other women dancers. Probably the most challenging for Esther is rebuilding her dance techniques after having suffered a back injury ten years ago because of an accident.
“Generally, in theatre and dance they usually tell you to dance with the same energy and facial expressions that you’ll be dancing onstage during rehearsals,” she related. “On this day, I had invited my sister and mother to look on and have their