"Those whom the Gods love die young." This is part of a quote from that great English genius of literature, William Shakespeare. If we are to accept the philosophy of that quote then Trinidad's very talented and outstanding dancer-choreographer ASTOR JOHNSON must have been loved very much by the gods. Astor, who passed away quite recently in a New York Hospital after a short illness was at the prime of his career and had only reached his late forties.
Astor, originally from East St. George, spent most of his infant and boyhood days at Arouca and Tunapuna. There's value in the past for it brings us to where we are at the present. So there must have been some very strong force or circumstance in Astor's early life which influenced and molded him into the intensely creative and talented person he became as a youth and as an adult. It was obvious that dance to him was a vehicle for bold and daring creativity with strong messages on themes which would take his audiences to certain artistic intellectual heights. And so all his work was on a very high note where one discovered in the dance the creative outpouring of a true artiste.
Astor was born to be a dancer. It was part of his every being and he lived for nothing else. Unmistakably very gifted, he had a great talent which developed tremendously as the years rolled on and more so as he gathered more exposure and experience on the international scene.
Without doubt, he was one of our successful and outstanding choreographers, if one is to judge both by the popularity of his work the appreciation with which all his cultural presentations were received and most importantly, his serious approach and the high standards he was always able to achieve. His styling was to present effort after effort in amazingly short periods of preparation, but he was able always to get the best out of his dancers and those who gathered around him as his techniques and consistency seemed to have always inspired and motivated them.
Much to his credit, he was loved by all that were associated with him and especially so, the dancers of his company as well as people in local dance circles. He had a great admiring public for there was always so much artistic worth and value in his dance presentations.
An amiable person, easy to get along with, he had neither an aggressive nor a difficult personality so people in the performing arts found it easy to deal and work with him. He did not know the language of being arrogant, bombastic or a projector of prima donna qualities. On the contrary, Astor possessed a gentle and pleasant personality and was a ready compromiser in dealings with others, to the extent that notwithstanding how disappointed or displeased you may have been with him for a matter where he had fallen short, you still could not get angry with him. And that cannot be said of many persons. Humble in spirit, he moved comfortably with the grass roots as well as the upper crust in relaxed fashion as he had no pseudo or false airs, in spite of his talents.
His very youthful years saw him dancing with Burey Thomas after which he danced for several years with Julia Edwards. Personal ambitions led him to Howard University in the mid-sixties.
With his great love for dance, he was able to pursue training in the U.S.A. and to benefit from training from dance institutions of high repute like the Erika Thimey Dance Theatre, James Truitt of the Harlem Dance Theatre, Maida Withers and Paul Sansardo School of New York. He returned to Trinidad in 1970 after obtaining a degree in Education.