Barbara Ellington, Lifestyle Editor
The women raise their legs in unison during the National Dance Theatre Company's (NDTC) 45th Anniversary Season of Dance, held at Little Theatre, on Saturday, July 21. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
It is evening time. Rush hour traffic is turning into a past tense. His white-haired, balding head is as relaxed as his lithe frame; eyes and focus fixed on the dance studio floor, bare feet stretched in front. He does not miss a step.
Two puppies run towards me, lick my ankles and beg for attention. I rub one's head, the mongrel yelps in pleasure. That diverts Professor Rex Nettleford's attention and he turns his head, smiling a greeting. I take the empty chair at his side and we watch in silence momentarily.
"Melanie Graham is leading the younger dancers in one of the company's classics, 'The Crossing', and she is taking them through their paces," the National Dance Theatre Company's (NDTC) artistic director offers by way of explanation of what is happening on the rehearsal studio. That dance was among the old favourites from the NDTC's repertoire when the historic 45th season opened last weekend at the Little Theatre, Tom Redcam Avenue, St. Andrew.
"I remember we started with an audience of about 50 and some walked out because the drums were too loud," Nettleford told The Sunday Gleaner. The resistance from the uptown folk continued for a while; they were absolutely mortified that people who had received training were gone 'to do barefoot dancing'.
Nettleford was unperturbed. Firmly grounded in his rural roots, he continued to explore the rituals and dance lore while ignoring the snobbery and assembling some interesting steps.
So the 45th season presents a time to rejoice, but when the NDTC began it had been some three years in embryo as an idea. The early dancers belonged to other groups, such as those run by the late Ivy Baxter and Eddy Thomas, or with the Little Theatre Movement (LTM), their main outlet for that creative force. Thoughts and ideas for the company abounded, but it was not until a trip to Ghana that they materialised.
Ghanaian dance company proposal
National Dance Theatre Company's Rex Nettleford and Yvonne DaCosta perform in 'Ave Verum', choreographed by Neville Black, at Scots Kirk in 1968, as part of the church's Easter Festival. At right is a member of the St. Andrew Singers, who also gave a recital.
"I went to Ghana on an international youth conference and hooked up with the dance theatre group. Eighteen months later I was asked by Nkrumah to write a plan for a Ghanaian dance company, so I used the pans in my head to form the Ghana National Dance Ensemble," Nettleford said, in explaining how the NDTC actually started.
Back in Jamaica he choreographed and directed the pantomime Banana Boy, but he had asked Eddy Thomas, a founding member who completed studies in New York, to see about things during his time in Ghana. When he returned it was felt that with Jamaica gaining independence it would be the perfect opportunityto launch the NDTC.
And that was the beginning.
The first run was short - a mere two weeks - but they travelled around the island and the first overseas tour came the very next year, 1963. The NDTC opened the Shakespearean Festival in Ontario, Canada. What a difference 45 years makes! "We have been on over 140 overseas tours as far away as Moscow, Kiev, Finland, Germany, Venezuela, Guyana, The Bahamas, the United Kingdom, the United
States and the Caribbean," Nettleford said.
When The Sunday Gleaner visited rehearsal there were only four days left until opening night of the current season. Rehearsals for the full company, including singers, can take up to three months.
In the beginning, dancers would be at it till 3:00 a.m. Now, with new techniques, they can go home by 11:00 p.m.
The company keeps renewing itself, s the dances are based on tradition they are constantly changing so as not to remain static. One of the greatest sources of pride for the artistic director is to see dancers transformed into complete persons. "It gives me a sense of pride to see that what we do makes sense, and I feel comfortable that after I have gone things will continue," Nettleford said.
Having set the succession plan in train, he is also happy to see dancers educating themselves. "I have always told them not to be minstrels and I am happy to see them acquiring degrees to give them a life after the dance," he said. Nettleford is also happy to see that most of those now teaching at the local schools of dance have benefited from the NDTC. Each decade has produced stars: Yvonne DaCosta emerged from the '60s; Patsy Ricketts from the '70s; Melanie Graham from the '80s, Arlene Richards from the '90s and Kerry-Ann Henry is currently emerging.
However, Nettleford is disappointed that the NDTC, with its track record, does not attract more funding. Each year they have to go back to the corporate world with hat in hand. "The entire company works without pay, but we get the goodwill of the Government, especially when wetravel. We are grateful to corporate Jamaica for giving the dancers time to rehearse," he said.
Gratitude to the media
Gratitude also goes to the media, in particular The Gleaner, from which a reporter would travel overseas with the company to report on the tours. And he is enormously happy to see the number of small dance companies that have developed, in particular Stella Maris and Tony Wilson - both headed by NDTC alumni.
As for his legacy, Nettleford quips: "I am busy presiding over my own liquidation, so I can sit back and see the constant renewal. I have seen the growth from the start to the present where we have a company of tremendous influence in the Caribbean. Others in the business have come here for workshops, we have gone beyond our borders to get choreographers to work with us. We are a Caribbean company with universal standing."
The audience has changed in age class structure and the NDTC has acquired a reputation and respect at home and abroad. For the future, Nettleford would love to see more dancers holding degrees. The local curriculum should reflect not just the ability to throw the legs high but bring a sense of self, place, purpose and effect on the world."The State University of New York has come here and evaluated us. Our graduates need only one year to complete the degree there after leaving our dance school, so I would love to see the UWI offer those degrees eventually," Nettleford said.
