The legendary Belizean dance instructor, musical composer and painter Bob Reneau is not your typical kind of artist today. He was a special breed of Belizean artist that could not be duplicated ever in the history of the arts in Belize. His range varies from Belize's most brilliant Choreographer, to one of Belize's best folk music composers, to one of Belize's most colorful painters. Bob Reneau was also a skillful fashion designer and tailor who designed many of the costumes for his dynamic dance troupes that made the now National Institute of Culture & History (NICH) or The Bliss Center for Performing Arts exploded with dance and galore in the 60's and early 70's. Before his departure from Belize, Reneau left behind an incredible collection of international awards in dance, music and art. In 2008 just before his passing, I was privileged to had visited this sensational Belizean artistic icon at his home in Evanston, Illinois where he presented a historical collection of his work from Belizean dance theatre to original Belizean musical compositions unheard before, to a large array of paintings of Belizean life, also unseen by many Belizeans before. Most surprising to me was Bob Reneau's collection of songs where he played an melodic folk guitar with rifts that I had only heard played by African folk artists like Salif Keita and others. I was blown away and wondered why this Belizean artist's work was tucked away in this suburban place in the United States. Recently I spoke with one of his greatest dancers of all times, Glenda "Bella Carib" Arnold and expressed to her the resurgence of Bob Reneau's work as one of Belize's most incredible artist. Today, we appreciate the work of the Belize Dance Company who have kept alive the work in dance of this amazing Belizean artistic phenom. But we would hope that his musical compositions in Belizean folk music would be one day liberated into the ear of Belize's young musical proteges on the scene today. Belizean Legend honors the work of Bob Reneau, a Belizean artistic legend!

Capital Newspost