NDTC dancers caught in a New York performance of Christopher Walker's 'Fragile' due to be shown this season beginning July 23 at the Little Theatre. - Contributed
ON JULY 23, The National Dance Theatre Company's (NDTC) 42nd Season of Dance is set to open at the Little Theatre, Tom Redcam Drive, St. Andrew, in tribute to 200 years of successful Haitian struggle against slavery and for freedom. The dance-work 'Incantation', choreographed by the Haitian Jean-Guy Saintus, will be the centrepiece of the entire season.
It will be joined by Rex Nettleford's 'The King Must Die', inspired by circumstances surrounding the leaders of the Haitian Revolution - Toussaint L' Ouverture, Dessalines and Henri Christophe which was first staged in 1968. The movement vocabulary for the work drew heavily on the Haitian dance lexicon learnt through numerous summer schools in dance directed by Lavinia Williams Yarborough throughout the 1960s. The remounted work will pose a challenge to present dancers to key roles in the dance. Arlene Richards, company principal will dance the Queen Mother, made memorable by the late Yvonne Dacosta, along with her understudy Keita Chamberlain.
The revolutionary leader will have Arsenio Andrade and Abeldo Gonzales as alternates, while the role of the hapless king will be danced by David Blake, alternating with Marlon Simms. The role of the female insurgent (originally danced by Dorothy Frasez) will be danced by Rolande Pryce, Janira Bremner and Jihan Palmer as alternates. The season will enjoy new woks by Arsenio Andrade and Christopher Walker. They will join Clive Thompson's 'Diva' and 'Folktales' as well as Arlene Richards' 'Azure' and 'Renewal of the Spirit'. The season will feature drummers Henry Miller, Ewan Simpson, Adrian Locke and Jesse Golding, with NDTC singer Carl Bliss leading the singers throughout the work. 'Pocomania' will again be presented, with Chris Walker, Kevin Moore, Keith Fagan and the NDTC singers led by Majorie Whylie.
For the season, the lighting director is Rufus McDonald, with Tony Holness as sound director, Barbara Kufmann as wardrobe mistress and Tony Locke as stage manager. The NDTC 42nd Season of Dance will run from July 23 to August 22, with a number of charities benefiting from some of the performances.
