By Cheryl Harewood
Jianna Fagon has reached a significant height in her career and is following her dream of making it big in the world of dance.
Her dance journey began at the age of three while she was still living in Jamaica.
She moved to Barbados with her parents at the age of five, and while at St Paul’s Primary and The St Michael School, her love for the arts and dancing grew even more.
After completing her secondary level education Jianna enrolled at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Cave Hill Campus, where she completed her Bachelors of Fine Arts degree in dance last year. Today, she is living her dream of dancing internationally while in Germany.
Speaking to Buzz from Germany, Jianna shared: “I have been performing on many Caribbean stages including Jamaica, Cuba, Trinidad and Tobago, and Barbados. I was trained in classical ballet, modern, jazz and Caribbean dance, earning distinctions and merits in these genres from the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing in England.”
Jianna also completed the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) theatre arts (dance) examination at the age of 12, earning herself a distinction. She also took the CXC Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) performing arts (dance) examination at 14, earning a Grade II and securing a second-place spot on the Merit List.
Over the years, she has graced both regional and international stages. In 2019 and 2020, she competed at the World Championships of Performing Arts in California, earning gold, silver and bronze medals not only in dance, but also in singing and modelling.
In 2022, she travelled with the UWI Dance Ensemble, led by lecturer and choreographer Aisha Comissiong, to the COCO Dance Festival in Trinidad and Tobago. She also performed at Hennessy Artistry 2023 as a back-up dancer for Grammy Award-winning Jamaican artiste Koffee and in 2024, she was at the Jamaica Dance Umbrella in Jamaica.
Jianna is eager to contribute to the future and development of the Caribbean performance industry, while continuing to perform on international stages and exploring the musical theatre industry.
To date, the major highlight of her career as a dancer was when she was part of the cast of The Lion King (Der König Der Löwen) in Hamburg, Germany, last year, as an ensemble dancer. As of now, she is part of the ensemble cast in Frozen (Die Eiskonigin) in Stuttgart, Germany.
Looking back over her career, Jiannatold Buzz: “When I started to perform with Riddim Tribe back in 2021, my career began to grow. I performed locally at many Crop Over events and other major events before competing and performing regionally as a group.
“I auditioned for Disney’s The Lion King in 2024 while I was at UWI and received the call in December of that year. I was recruited as an ensemble dancer in Hamburg, Germany.
“I joined the cast in 2025. This Lion King musical and others in Europe are under Stage Entertainment – a theatre production company that operates musicals around Europe.”
Jianna danced for The Lion King in Hamburg for a year, then got the opportunity to become an ensemble member in Frozen in Stuttgart.
She confessed that she never envisioned herself reaching this height of her career.
“This is not what I envisioned for myself. We are not educated about musicals outside of the Caribbean. Our career is more guided toward teaching or performing. Since I have gained this opportunity to dance in Germany and fulfil this new dream of mine, I am quite excited.
“As a dancer, I appreciate the artistic community it comes with, the exposure to other artistes and their perspectives. I just embrace the fact that we all have the same goals and similar ways of thinking, making it quite admirable and interesting to be surrounded by such energy.”
Given her success so far, Jianna plans to continue to seek more musical opportunities in Germany or other European countries. She also has plans to return to Barbados to fulfil one of her previous dreams of completing her Masters in fine arts.
Dance means a lot for this talented 21-year-old.
“Dance becomes a space that is comfortable, empowering, yet pushes my boundaries. Though this may be contradicting, it is a space to escape reality. I get to experiment in movement and creativity. That’s what dance means to me.”
Jianna has admitted that moving to Germany was challenging.
“I have to admit that it has been very hard moving from one country to another, because I am moving from one culture to another.
“While working with The Lion King, I was greatly appreciative of the warm hospitality of South Africans, Brazilians and people from other Caribbean cultures who welcomed me with open arms and made sure I adjusted. I couldn’t be more grateful.”
It is quite different in Stuttgart, being surrounded by people from many European cultures. Despite this transition of new cultures around me, everyone has been truly amazing and welcoming.”
Jianna is looking forward to sharing her experiences in Germany with her Barbadian counterparts when she returns home.
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