Lewis, Katani O.

23-year-old Katani Lewis is an upcoming singer-songwriter, actor and dancer. Growing up in the small island Barbados; at the tender age of eight he found a keen interest in the art form of drumming. He participated in workshops at the National Cultural Foundation in Barbados with drumming instructor Danny Hinds. With the influence of this mother who was a dancer, he joined a community-based organization called The Haynesville Youth Club where he developed his art in the area of drumming and dancing, and was able to travel across the Caribbean to countries such as Dominica and St. Lucia to showcase his talent with the group.

Katani performed with this group for over a decade, where he and other members performed at national festivals such as Crop Over and NIFCA (National Independence Festival of Creative Arts) where they won many different gold, silver and bronze awards for their dance and musical arrangements. With the experience gained with this group he eagerly wanted to enter NIFCA as a solo artist. Accompanied by his Aunt Nicole ‘Peach’ Pilgrim, an award-winning singer, he sang a reggae piece making it to the semifinal stage of the competition. As his love for music and dance grew, he joined Operation Triple Threat where he attained intense training in singing, dancing and acting which enabled him to perform in their Broadway hit productions such as The Wiz and Into the Woods. Currently Katani is developing his career in Musical Theatre at the renowned American Musical and Dramatic Academy. Katani was awarded The Lambs’ Foundation Scott Glascock Scholarship in 2018.