At 64, the NDTC is ‘Rooted, Moving, Rising’

Emotion and excellence marked the opening night of the National Dance Theatre Company’s (NDTC) 64th Season of Dance under the theme ‘Rooted. Moving. Rising’ at the Little Theatre, Tom Redcam Drive. Artistic Director Marlon D. Simms waxed emotional as he welcomed the enthusiastic audience and interpreted the season’s motto as “Grounded in our heritage, moving with purpose, and rising through the power of our Jamaican artistry”.

The excellence was most noticeable in the dancers, singers and musicians performing the eight items making up the show. They were outstanding not only because of their raw talent, but because of the off-stage work of the team behind them – the choreographers, the composers, the musicians, the costumiers, the sound and lighting technicians, as well as the administrators and volunteers who spent “months, months”, Simms emphasised, preparing the production.

Simms’ welcome address paid tribute to that commitment to excellence and cultural stewardship. “Every performance you witness this evening has been earned through discipline, sacrifice and an unwavering pursuit of excellence,” he told the audience, adding, “To every member of the NDTC family, my heartfelt thanks. This evening is, above all, an evening of gratitude.”

It was specially dedicated to Marjorie Whylie, musical director emerita of the NDTC, who was present as a special guest. Simms lauded Whylie’s decades-long contribution to Jamaica’s performing arts. “Ms Whylie, generations of dancers have moved because of your music, generations of musicians have grown because of your mentorship, generations of audiences have experienced the richness of Jamaican culture because of your artistry,” he said. “Your legacy lives not only in the history of this company but in every rehearsal room, in every performance, and in every artiste’s life you have taught.”

After a standing ovation for Whylie, Simms went on to place the evening in the context of artistic succession, stating, “Tonight also reminds us that the greatest artistic traditions are passed from one generation to the next.” The transfer was exemplified in one of the evening’s highlights, the return of Rex Nettleford’s Tribute to Cliff. Choreographed in 1974, the work, a jewel in the NDTC repertory, was performed by dancers who, Simms said, were not yet born when Nettleford created the piece.

Sunday’s programme, staged to a full house, offered a sweeping panorama of the company’s contemporary and classic repertoire. The first half opened with Troy Powell’s Unscathed (2015), followed by Play Time, featuring the NDTC Singers in an arrangement by former musical director Ewan Simpson.

Nettleford’s Tribute to Cliff was followed by St Thomas, a medley arranged collaboratively by NDTC Musical Director Dr Kathy Brown, Davyd-Paul Alberts and Music Captain Conrod A. Hall. It includes The Celebrant, arranged by former Musical Director Ewan Simpson. Renée I. McDonald’s Ash (2019) rounded off the programme’s first half.

After an intermission, the second half started with David Brown’s Labess (1995) and moved into the evening’s only new piece, Simms’ Joined by Faith (2026). The choreographer described it as “a statement about two souls identifying with each other in an expression of faith”, and it featured Shade Thaxter and Amaya Gomes dancing the lead roles.

The evening concluded with Rex Nettleford’s Gerrehbenta (1983), set to traditional folk music arranged by Whylie. A perennial crowd-pleaser, the dance – to songs that referred comically to duppies and vampires and called for listeners to take off their clothes and dance in the rain – was presented in a particularly light-hearted manner this time around.

Simms used the opening-night platform to announce the much-travelled company’s continuing journey beyond the Corporate Area. There will be a tour to Miramar and South Dade, Miami, with performances on October 30 and 31. In a historic first for the institution, the company will also close its Season of Dance in Jamaica in Montego Bay with a performance at the Iberostar hotel on Sunday, August 16. It will be the first time in its 64-year history that a season finale will be staged in that city.

Extending his gratitude to the company’s alumni, Simms thanked them for their continued inspiration and strengthening of the institution. He also saluted the audiences for “believing that the art matters and for walking this journey with us”.

There will be a special Emancipation Day children’s performance of the show at Little Theatre on Saturday, August 1, at 2 p.m.

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