Scenes from the National Dance Theatre Company's 45th anniversary season, held April 26-27, in New York. - photoS BY Roland Hyde

Once again, Jamaica's National Dance Theatre Company (NDTC) played to capacity houses in New York in the Brooklyn College Whitman Hall which the company's creative technicians describe as "home away from home".

The refurbished theatre seating 2,400 patrons is the joy of lighting director Rufus McDonald and sound director Tony Holness, with Ewan Simpson substituting for Tony Locke, as stage manger on this tour.

They gave the usual support to the company of new-generation dancers and the seasoned and the usually well-received NDTC Singers and musicians under the direction of musical director Majorie Whylie. Her arrangements of Caribbean traditional music prompted the audiences to enthusiastic applause, especially Carl Bliss's wooing of soprano Carole Reid in Yellow Gal and Earl Brown's lead in the Guyanese song Sancho as well as the choral blitz the singers made of a collection of Lord Flea Compositions.

The excellence persisted with the wide range of dance works presented. The excerpt from Clive Thompson's 'Folktales' danced by Stefanie Thomas, was well received while Marlon Simms' rendition of the expressive Sweet In the Morning brought shouts of approval from the stalls.

Bicentenary commemoration

One programme featured both 'Katrina' (A New York debut) and 'The Crossing' in celebration of the bicentenary commemoration of the abolition of the Transatlantic slave trade by the United States Congress effective on January 1, 1808, while 'Gerregbenta' depicting Jamaican dead-yard ceremonies complete with gerreh, etu, dinkimini had the audiences thrilled by the singing, drumming an delaying of the benta, as well as the movements drawn from the fields.

Christopher Walker's 'Variation A Ska', drawing on contemporary urban lore with the contrasting mento thrown in for good measure, brought special nostalgic pleasure to the first-night audience clearly packed with members of the Jamaican diaspora evident in the pre-show greetings by Assembly man Nick Perry who welcomed both the Jamaican permanent representative to the United Nations and his Barbarian counterpart who was in attendance.

It was left only for the special performances MC'd by Majorie Whylie for some 5,000 school children on Monday, April 28, when Marlon Simms' 'Joyful Joyful' took centrestage along with 'Variations A Ska' and the invocation chant from 'Katrina' as well as the singers who were joined by the children in the singing of Bob Marley's One Love, the song of the 20th century.

The company returned home on Tuesday, April 29, by Air Jamaica, which has been a co-sponsor of the Brooklyn Centre for the Performing Arts Caribbean series for over a decade.

Scenes from the National Dance Theatre Company's 45th anniversary season, held April 26-27, in New York. - photoS BY Roland Hyde