by Beverley Bogle
“Yuh cyaan know yuh future if yuh nuh know yuh past.” That’s the spirit moving the feet and hearts of JANUKA — Jamaican Nurses in the UK and their Associates — a spirited voluntary dance group based in Southeast London, keeping the flames of Jamaican folk culture blazing through the art of Quadrille dancing.
Since 2006, JANUKA has been bringing rhythm, resilience, and reverence to stages big and small, from London to Liverpool, Brixton to Birmingham, and even across Caribbean shores in Martinique. More than just a performance group, they are cultural ambassadors—dancing historians reclaiming a powerful, painful, and beautiful past.
So, what exactly is Quadrille? Think of it as Europe’s 17th-century high society ballroom dance — prim, proper, and performed in palaces. French and English colonisers brought it to the Caribbean during slavery. But as Jamaican people do best, our enslaved ancestors flipped the script.
“Wi likkle but wi tallawah.” With defiant grace, they transformed this rigid European form into something that pulsed with African soul — a bold, rebellious, and rhythmic expression called Quadrille – Jamaican style. With Mento beats (Jamaica’s original music form), makeshift drums, and creative flair, they mimicked, mocked, and made it their own.
JANUKA, through their joyful performances, workshops, and school sessions, are carrying this story forward — not just as entertainment, but as education, healing, and resistance.
“We don’t just dance for show,” says Beverley Bogle, the passionate coordinator of JANUKA. “We dance to connect with our ancestors, to reclaim our history, and to pass on a legacy many Jamaicans right here in the UK have never known.”
Some call it “Old People Dance” or “Figure 1-2-3” with a laugh. But when the steps start and the Mento plays, audiences are spellbound. JANUKA has lit up stages at Sadler’s Wells, King’s College, Goldsmiths, The Black Cultural Archives, and countless schools, churches, and town halls.
The Quadrille is more than movement — it’s a memory. It’s survival stitched into rhythm, hope spun into song. Every synchronized figure tells a tale of struggle, resistance, and triumph. Each stomp, swing, and turn whispers of dreams dreamt in cane fields, plans whispered in secret, and dignity held tight in dance.
And it’s good for the body and soul, too. Dancing boosts mood, lifts spirits, and keeps JANUKA’s members mentally sharp and physically fit.
“When we dance, it’s therapy. We release tension, stress, and connect to something bigger than us. It’s joy, memory, rebellion and freedom all wrapped in one,” Beverley shares.
With generations growing up detached from this heritage, JANUKA’s mission is more urgent than ever: “Use it or lose it.”
Their performances stir curiosity and pride in Jamaican youth who’ve never heard of Quadrille. And through storytelling, song, and dance, JANUKA ensures that our cultural DNA doesn’t fade.
So next time you hear the beat, don’t just watch — join in. Learn the steps. Honour the past. And remember:
“Every mikkle mek a mukkle.”
Every dance, every performance, every story matters.
