Renice Bostic was born on September 21st 1991, in Barbados to a family of creative individuals involved in many aspects of the cultural industries, locally, regionally and internationally. Infatuated by movement in dance from an early age, but lacking coordination, she reluctantly enrolled at The Barbados Dance Theatre School of Dance (BDTC) in 1996 after being coerced by her elder sister and mother who were both dancers. She poured her energy and passion into her studies and training, determined to achieve coordination, flexibility and technique. Renice auditioned within the dance school in 2001 and was enrolled in the theatre performance aspect of the school. She received the dance school’s Young Performer of the Year Award in 2003. In Young Performers, she went on to enter the National Independence Festival of Creative Arts (NIFCA i.e. arts competition) where she received a silver medal in 2003 for her performance in the piece entitled Faces. Determined to receive a gold medal, the group competed again in 2004, receiving a bronze and silver and finally received gold in 2005 for her role as a soloist in the piece “Blu Butterfly”. By 2006, Renice became known as ‘Blu Butterfly’ and she entered the Junior Company of BDTC, thus marking the successful completion of her tenure at the dance school.
This was definitely not the end of dance in Renice’s life and she went on to balance her studies at The St. Michael School with her work as a dancer in Sankofa Productions. After finding a more comfortable position in one of Barbados’ top dance companies in 2007, Dancin’ Africa, she joined as an apprentice to the Senior Company. Her career as a professional dancer finally began to take the route she always wanted. Finally the dreams of dancing on many stages across Barbados the region and the world were becoming reality, and it was evident that all her hard work was paying off. Her face was becoming known on the hotel circuit with Bougainvillea Hotel and Mango Bay Hotel as well as films such as Hit it For Six. 2007 was also the year Renice conducted her first tour as she toured the region performing at events for the ICC Cricket World Cup beginning with the Opening Ceremony in Jamaica and climaxing with the Closing Ceremony in Barbados. Dancin’ Africa also had a vibrant presence on the NIFCA stage and she made her debut with this company in the competition by copping a silver medal for her performance in Bussa Children.
Renice continued her training by studying Theatre Arts and Theatre Arts: Dance at CXC where she received distinctions in 2008 for both courses. Throughout this year, she travelled with the production People of De Drum to Grenada and Florida and also represented Barbados at CARIFESTA X in Guyana. She accredits this time to be one of her eye openers because it was here that she recognised her true potential as a dancer. By the end of 2008, Renice was commencing her studies in Law at Queen’s College, as an Associate Degree which was the first step to her career path of an entertainment lawyer along with being a dancer. Whilst conducting these studies, she continued to perform and make a signature for herself onstage by becoming known as one of the most dynamic and expressive performers in Barbados. By 2009, she had not only toured most of the Caribbean region, but was also accumulating additional shows in South America, namely Venezuela, Suriname and Guyana and also broke into the London market to promote Barbados’ tourism product. During all this touring, and school, Renice made her final appearance at NIFCA with Dancin’ Africa and finally received her much coveted gold medal and the Award for Most Promising Entrant for her work in the choreography entitled Broken Doll.
Renice continued to ride on the waves of her success and in 2010, joined Dance Machine which allowed her to penetrate the Crop Over market as a back up dancer. She began performing with the most popular artists in Barbados such as Krosfyah, Alison Hinds, Biggie Irie, TC and Blood to name a few. This opened many doors for her especially in the music video world beginning with video shoots for Edwin Yearwood’s ‘Chrissening’ and Kirk Browne’s ‘Dat is All I want’. She not only made dance her job when she completed her Associate Degree in June 2010, but she made it her life! She was on every major stage erected in Barbados and continued to tour throughout the Caribbean (Jamaica, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Grenada, Curacao, Tortola, Martinique, Trinidad, Antigua, St. Kitts) North America and Europe (England, Holland, Germany, and France). 2010 has definitely been her biggest year to date, as it was booked to capacity with shows, locally, regionally and internationally.
At present, this young dynamic and enchanting performer resides in the twin island republic of Trinidad and Tobago where she is pursuing studies at The University of The West Indies. She did not leave her overwhelming passion and experience in dance in Barbados when she moved at the end of 2010, but she took it with her and joined Wasafoli International where she has been performing throughout Trinidad along with ELLE NYTT. She has also been conducting regional tours as she is still a member of Dancin’ Africa and Dance Machine in Barbados. In March 2011, Renice staged her first ever choreographed piece entitled Mother at a U.W.I competition entitled Advantage De Stage and copped the award for Best Talent. The best is truly yet to come!
