Singer-Dancer a Hit With Her Students

In her native Belize, she is known as Bella Carib, the “Queen of Punta Rock.” At parks and recreation centers from Watts to South-Central, she is Glenda Burns, the after-school dance and drama teacher.

Burns, 37, has had a dance career that has included official State Department performances, film appearances and tours of major American cities since 1976. But she has also found time, as a dance and drama teacher for the Los Angeles Department of Recreations and Parks, to inspire a generation of youths.

On a cold afternoon, an empty gym came to life when Burns crossed the hardwood with a boom box in hand. Wearing a turquoise T-shirt and tights, a black skirt, gold socks and white tennis shoes, Burns greeted a group of seven girls gathered for a weekly dance class at the 109th Street Recreation Center.

The girls shed their coats and street shoes and tentatively worked through their warm-up exercises amid smiles and laughter.

Minutes later they sailed gracefully through a rehearsal routine that incorporated ballet, modern, jazz and street dance movements to dance hall reggae and punta rock--a blend of African, Caribbean and Latin rhythms developed by the Garifuna people of southern Belize in Central America.

“I like her class because we learn a lot of different dances,” said Porshia Scott 7. “And the music is fun.”

During a rehearsal for a Christmas performance, Burns often encouraged her students with a “Go, girl. That’s it. You’re looking good.” The 7- to 12-year-olds praised Burns’ caring and patience.

“She’s really nice to us,” said Chantel Elie, 8. “She doesn’t holler at people or nothing.”

Since taking a dance class from Burns in 1978, Virginia Corbin, 30, has gone on to become the director of the Sepulveda Recreation Center and now teaches modern and jazz dance at the College of the Canyons, a community college in Valencia. Corbin said Burns encouraged her to take dance classes at Cal State Long Beach and has remained a close friend.

“I’ve never seen someone care so much for others and give so much,” Corbin said. “She’s influenced me and other people to dance. It’s rare to find someone so talented who has it in their heart to give.”

Burns began dancing when she was 8 with the Bob Reneau Dance Group in Belize City and began touring with the dance troupe at 11. She is pursuing a master’s degree in theater and communication arts at USC.

Even with the success of “Bald Head Man,” her 1991 hit single in Belize, and the growing popularity of punta rock in dance clubs from Los Angeles to London, Burns said few of her students know she is a performer.

“I don’t get too involved in the part of my life as a performer,” said Burns, who appeared in the movie, “Doctor Detroit.” “I don’t want them to feel like I’m a superstar. Outside I’m an entertainer, here I’m a teacher.”