I am Beverley Bogle from St Thomas Jamaica. I came to the UK in the 60s, aged 18, on a scholarship to pursue a career in nursing. I worked in the NHS for 28 years as nurse, midwife and midwife teacher and then 15 years as lecturer and programme leader at King’s College, London. I acquired several clinical and management certificates; MSc; B.Ed.(Hons.); MTD; DN (Part A); to enhance my roles.

I am hard-working, kind, reliable and visionary, with an outgoing personality and enquiring mind. I am a mother and grandmother who loves entertaining and living my best life. My passion for music and dance stems from early childhood. I saw older relatives dancing quadrille at village fairs. Although enthused, I only learned to dance it in 2005, in my middle years, finding it captivating, hypnotic, gratifying and empowering. I enjoy the participatory learning, camaraderie and social interactions endorsed.

In 2007, after further research into quadrille’s history, cultural significance and the multifaceted skills required to dance it, I co-founded JÁNUKA. With transferable skills, I volunteered my services to manage, teach and promote quadrille as one of Jamaica’s traditional dance forms. I develop educational material, facilitate workshops, actively encourage others to promote quadrille for its health benefits, and to proudly dance it in celebration of our ancestors’ strength and resourcefulness to overcome the oppression of slavery. My legacy is to ensure that our ancestors and JÁNUKA are never forgotten.