MARIA HITCHINS is a cultural catalyst with extensive experiences in various creative roles including choreographer, educator, researcher, public speaker, content producer, arts advocate and exhibition curator, highlighting the history of Dancehall’s fashion aesthetics.

Her artistic journey spans over three decades in the performing arts including musical theatre ensembles, acclaimed dance companies, renowned concerts, television features and international tour with Shaggy. She has been featured in the Wall Street Journal as Choreographer for Jamaica’s Central Bank -Bank of Jamaica’s Low & Stable Inflation TV campaign, which utilised the island’s pop culture as a communication tool.

Miss Hitchins is the Founder of Dancers of Jamaica, an award-winning advocacy network that showcases and celebrates all things dance, connected to Jamaica, and is co-founder of the Dancehall Dance Association. She’s an Adjunct Lecturer at Edna Manley Visual and Performing Arts College where she created the first ever accredited tertiary Dancehall dance courses in the Caribbean.

She identifies among her most fulfilling roles that of ongoing engagement with Jamaica's street (Dancehall) dancers; strategizing ways in which to increase their visibility and profitability in a culture they created, but increasingly are confronted with ownership struggles.