Yvonne DaCosta
Yvonne daCosta catapulted to prominence between 1962 and 1972 bringing to the dancing strength of the Company special gifts of concentration, stage command sense of style and versatility which stood for many years as the model for many dancers who followed her generation. Plastic and articulate, her body language responded to the choreographic impulses that drove all the dance-creators working with the NDTC during the first decade; and the dramatic power coupled with her mental and emotional understanding of her roles, marked her out as a major dance artist of the new artistic dispensation in Jamaican dance-theatre after Independence. She was one of the few Jamaican dancers who could be described as having great inward stretch and outward reach at the peak of her performing career. She attracted critical acclaim and constituencies of audience interest which reflected in heated discussion about her varied portrayals. She also doubled as Ballet Mistress. This attributed to her phenomenal memory and analytical powers, forming a critical link between the different generations of dancers working in the NDTC over two decades. Some of the most ambitious roles in the repertoire have been created by her – the Other Woman in Dialogue for Three, the Spinster in Masques of God, the Queen Mother in The King Must Die, the Spirit of God in Lucifer, Lucifer and the Lady in Ballad for a Lady. She was known for her graceful lines, technical range, dramatic power, musicality and phenomenal memory.