 The St. Lucia School of Ballet and Modern Dance follows the examination syllabi of the Royal Academy of Dance and the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing. Both entities are based in the United Kingdom and are the largest examining bodies for Classical Ballet in the world. Both programs provide standardized training and assessment of students in ballet, modern dance, and tap. Every year, a cohort of students from the St. Lucia School of Ballet and Modern Dance engage in examinations at various levels. At the presentation of certificates and awards on Saturday 11th December 2021, tutor and director of the St. Lucia School of Ballet and Modern Dance, Theresa Colomer said that despite delays due to the ongoing pandemic, the academy has remained flexible and consistent. Today, we are celebrating the success of the seven candidates who sat the Royal Academy of Dance Classical Ballet examinations. Despite of the COVID, we have been consistently doing classes online and also in the studio adopting the hybrid method and we have prepared the examinations for July, it was at the end of July 28th and we are now giving out the results because everyone has passed, in fact they have done exceptionally well and those seven candidates will be also appearing in a little program giving a demonstration of extracts from their examination syllabi. Present at the awards ceremony was Minister for Education, Sustainable Development, Innovation, Science Technology and Vocational Training Honorable Sean Edward, who congratulated the students and welcomed the occasion, reinforcing the importance of the arts and its ability to change lives and curtail social ills. My only regret if I should call it that is the fact that what happens here has not been replicated on a much larger scale to incorporate students from every nook and cranny of this country. I'm on the record as saying that we have a lot of social problems in St. Lucia, but our social problems cannot be arrested by continuing to pump monies into a police force and increasing the size of the force. If we invest in our children from early, a lot of the social problems that we are grappling with today will cease to exist and her contribution to the development of the arts cannot be disputed anywhere in St. Lucia and more so in the field of dance. Mrs. Collimore echoed the sentiments of the Honorable Minister stating that St. Lucia has talent and potential that is underutilized and programs like these provide a framework for students to develop holistically. The arts are always evolving and the arts also represent you the nation and how the heartbeat of the nation displays itself and expresses itself to the world. But there is a course of study, there is a course of study and theory to put into practice to exercise the creativity. You are so creative, but if you don't know how to use your tools, therefore you cannot show the world what is actually in your heart, what is in your mind, what is in your soul, what is in your spirit. St. Lucia is suffering by not picking up the tools, discovering how to use them and use them to the way they want to express. In 2019, Mrs. Collimore celebrated 40 years as a classical and modern dance theater teacher. The St. Lucia School of Ballet has produced several well-known dancers and performers who live and work in St. Lucia and abroad. From the Communications Unit of the Ministry of Education, Sustainable Development, Innovation, Science, Technology and Vocational Training, I am Daniel Dubois reporting.