Debra Bernard-Vasquez:
For more than three
decades Debra
Bernard-Vasquez has
been a professional
dancer, entertainer
and choreographer. A
graduate of the Duke
Ellington School of
Performing Arts in
Washington D.C., she
was known to her
colleagues as the
“Caribbean Queen.”
There, she worked
with the late Mike Melone who
choreographed for
popular television
series like “Fame”
along with Debbie
Allen, Gregory Hines
and Louis Johnson.
A Trinidadian by
birth, she hailed
from San Fernando,
beginning her dance career
as early as
5 years old at institutions like
the Caribbean School
of Dance and the
Hummingbird Dance
Theater of Trinidad
and Tobago. She also
worked with several others
including the Noble
Douglas, Carol La Chapelle
and Astor Johnson
dance companies. Debra
also emerged winner of the
popular national
programme “Scouting
for Talent.” She has
choreographed top
events and performed with
noted artistes like
Crazy, Iwer George, Colin Lucas and
Machel Montano.
Debra has been a member
of Trinidad & Tobago
bands ‘Rukshun’ and
‘Atlantik’ (as choreographer
and dancer with the
latter). She
has graced stages
around the
world including
Japan, and also in the
USA as a lead singer
for 13 years with
the USA-based band
“Vision.”
Debra has given back
to the community,
working with young
kids and as the original founder
of the Francis Gittens Memorial
Fund, a
scholarship-based
initiative which assists
young people in
attending College
and pursuing their
chosen careers. She
has been formally
recognized by the
City of New York’s
Board of Education
as a private
scholarship donor
for New York City
High Schools.
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