Dashaun Prince
PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF) has selected dancer, model and dance teacher Dashaun Prince (26) to represent St. Maarten in the upcoming Carnival Caribbean Queen Pageant.
The pageant will feature 10 young women, including Dashaun, representing their respective countries in Festival Village on April 27.
SCDF, in collaboration with Essence and Mind organisation, introduced the host country’s candidate on Thursday.
“As popular and as accomplished as Dashaun is, this is her very first pageant. So, it caught many people off-guard. At the same time, shock gave way to excitement and the response to her reveal has been truly special,” said Paula Gordon of Essence and Mind.
This is the second year in a row that SCDF had to select a candidate to represent St. Maarten, in the absence of a Senior Carnival Queen.
“We haven’t had a Senior Carnival Queen Pageant in some time, so we didn’t have a contestant to represent us in the Caribbean pageant. As such, we had to evaluate several options and we believe we have a very strong candidate in Dashaun, who will also be a wonderful ambassador for our country," Gordon said.
She added that a Senior Carnival Queen Pageant will be held in Carnival 2025, so the winner will automatically be St. Maarten’s participant in the 2026 Caribbean Pageant.
Prince is an experienced dancer, dance teacher, choreographer and model. She began her dance journey at 10 years old, taking classes at the Imbali Center for Creative Movement and later at National Institute of Arts (NIA).
At 13 years old, after participating in the Art Saves Lives Summer Intensive, she decided to pursue dance as a career. Prince furthered her education in dance and choreography at Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts in Jamaica.
In 2020, following the outbreak of COVID-19, Prince returned to St. Maarten, marking the beginning of her modelling career. Her entry into modelling began with a swimsuit competition hosted by photographer Ricardo Benjamin.
She later connected with the United States Virgin Islands-based modelling agency Faces of Gemini, which provided opportunities to travel to New York City. There, she participated in New York Fashion Week, walking for designer Aaron Potts and modelling for a vogue runway spread.
Prince is currently a dance teacher at Charlotte Brookson Academy (CBA) and is an active member of dance group, Company O and Co.
