Candles were blown out, the cake was cut, glasses were raised, there was music and there was dancing – as it should be in a place where dance has been central for decades – on the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of Marlène’s Dance Company, the part of Marlène’s Dance School for students who distinguish themselves through their achievements. The dance school itself will have existed for fifty years in 2025. The Dance Company was founded almost eleven years after the school was founded. What started as an initiative to develop children’s dance skills grew into a company that has presented Suriname several times, both locally and internationally. The students selected by the Dance Company are the first to be considered for group performances abroad.
Text and image Sharon Singh
The Dance Company’s anniversary will be celebrated on November 7 and 8 with the performance ‘A Legacy in Motion – Honoring 40 Years of Beauty, Discipline and Art’. Two former dancers, who now live in the Netherlands, are returning to Suriname for this occasion.
“When I look around me and see how we have developed, all those performances that have been given, it is very special”
Richelle Klint
The Senegalese ballet group Ballet Kamala Africa with 22 people – twelve dancers, eight musicians, a singer and a director – are also coming to Suriname to add (more) color and depth to the varied program. The two-hour performance brings together dance, music and cultural influences from different periods, from the eighties to the present.
From dream to dance company
Marlène Lie A Ling, founder of both the school and the Dance Company, and some students watch in conversation with the True Time back on the past decades. When Lie A Ling came to Suriname in 1971, she especially wanted to give children a love for ballet. She started teaching at the Cultural Center Suriname.
After a few years she founded her own school. The enthusiasm and development of the students encouraged her to further expand the ballet training. In addition to classical and modern ballet, she thought it was important that the students were also introduced to the five Surinamese dance cultures: indigenous, Afro-Surinamese, Chinese, Hindustani and Javanese.
Her ambition soon had an international follow-up. The group was invited to Fête de Cayenne in French Guiana, where the dancers won a trophy. There the company was named Ballet Marlène.
A place that you don’t just leave
Several generations of dancers have emerged from the school and the Dance Company. Anouschka Nabibaks started ballet at the age of six and now belongs to the third generation of dancers. For her, dance is more than just rehearsing choreographies. “Dance is my passion. It is a way to be free and to break away from the daily grind of work. You are then busy with yourself and your inner self.”
Euvie Karijoredjo, who joined the school in 1995, also returned after a period of absence. Her acquaintance started by chance: she was asked to be an extra for a performance in which a Javanese bride was needed, but she is still there today. For her, the combination of fun and discipline characterizes the group. “If not with purpose, then with discipline,” was their motto.
Lessons learned
Fabian Wazirali started at the age of 24 and was given the opportunity through the Dance Company to perform in groups in French Guiana, Ecuador, Venezuela and Brazil, among others. The most important lessons he has learned in recent years are discipline, structure and perseverance. These qualities also served him well in his career. He now works as an HR advisor at Staatsolie.
For Priscilla Partowihono, the ballet school was her second home. She started with Marlène when he was still teaching at CCS. The many training sessions, performances and foreign trips not only led to dance experience, but also to friendships that continue to this day.
According to her, Marlène’s strict approach has contributed to her formation. “Look what we have become: disciplined citizens, partly thanks to her. It was part of our upbringing.” Partowihono hopes that her two granddaughters will also find their way to ballet school one day.
Caroline Lieuw-A-Len, who started ballet in 1986, recognizes the lasting connection. She stopped several times, but always found her way back to the dance studio. “No matter how many times I stop, dance will always hold a special place in my heart. Ultimately you end up back where it started.”
Legacy lives on
The international ambitions are also visible among the younger generation. In August 2024, seventeen dancers from the ballet school represented Suriname during the Circuito Norte em Dança dance festival in Brazil. They returned with 25 prizes in various categories.
Dancer Richelle Klint, who belonged to the first group of dancers, was ten years old when she started ballet. She danced until she was eighteen and was part of the company’s founding.
She finds it special to experience that the company still exists after forty years. “It’s incredible. When I look around and see how we have developed, all those performances that have been given, it is very special.”
Guest dancer Jules Brewster also emphasizes the importance of Ballet School Marlène for the development and international presentation of Surinamese dance. He hopes that new generations will continue the tradition, but believes that dance as a cultural institution also deserves more recognition from the government.
