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History

BACKGROUND AND BEGINNINGS OF THE NDTC

The National Dance Theatre Company (NDTC) was formed at the time of Jamaica’s Independence in 1962 more directly out of the Dance Theatre Group which produced the highly successful dance-show ‘Roots and Rhythms’ and partly out of the dance movement in Jamaica which had its early beginnings over fifteen years ago. It was formed with the blessings of the Jamaican Ministry of Development and Welfare which also handles cultural affairs, and is jointly led by Artistic Directors — Eddy Thomas and Rex Nettleford.

It has been said that the success of a dance-theatre anywhere depends on three things viz, a tradition or sense of tradition, special peculiar circumstances compatible to its growth, and the incidence of energetic, dynamic and resourceful leadership. The National Dance Theatre Company may be regarded as one result of the existence of all three factors in the island. In the absence of an integrated dance tradition as say in India or countries of Africa, the Jamaicans have had to depend on the spirit rather than on the letter of indigenous material (folksongs and stories largely) to build their dances. The emphasis is on the creative approach as can be seen in the Company’s repertoire. The dance-theatre tradition, therefore, dates back to the late thirties with the pioneer work of the late Hazel Johnson. She was, however, limited by the strict tenets of the classical idiom in which she worked and the breakthrough for a dynamic and broad- based dance movement came with the efforts of Ivy Baxter.

The special peculiar circumstances which facilitated this early work turned on the new nationalist awakening when politicians, poets and artists all in their own way sought identity from the experiences of their native soil and engaged in the search with fervour of emotion, enthusiasm and commitment. The diverse sources of the Jamaican cultural beginnings added dimensions. They also offered a special dynamic arising out of the inherent contradictions of the society and the drive towards fusion. The work of the Company is sometimes described as the melody of Europe playing on the rhythm of Africa with more recent tonal embellishments from the dynamic community of North America.

The movement needed leaders to give it form and purpose. Rex Nettleford and Eddy Thomas helped to found the National Dance Company in the spirit of the movement pioneered by Ivy Baxter. But their dream was made a reality only by the help of others like Madame May Soohih, Barbara Fonseca and the Misses Betty and Punky Rowe who are courtesy tutors to the Company and who have given every co-operation and assistance for its development. The Company is indeed made up of dancers who have studied under these dance-teachers.

As a performing group, the National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica provides a vehicle for well trained and talented Jamaican dancers who wish to perform and create works of excellence. It also experiments with dance forms and techniques of all kinds with a view to developing a style and form which will faithfully reflect the movement patterns of Jamaica and the surrounding Caribbean.

CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE: THE NDTC AS A ROLE MODEL

Five decades in the life of a dance company may be considered a long time. But for a cultural movement that seeks to discover its own aesthetic, logic and consistency as part of society’s wider process of self-definition, it is a short time indeed. Seedling years are significant, however, and the early period of the National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica—which operates as part of the movement of self-definition, even giving it shape and articulation—could be of interest not only to dancers and other performing artists all over the world but especially to performers in developing countries who share common concerns about their people’s material well-being and creative potential.

The development and survival of the National Dance Theatre Company is the story of a voluntary action group operating continuously in a poor Third World country over a period of five decades. The Company’s very existence is based on collaborative management as well as the dynamic interaction of all its participants, with creative skills and leadership being mutually reinforcing. This group has succeeded in making a strong impact on the cultural life of Jamaica.

Its unpaid members, who have occupations as students, teachers, doctors, lawyers, civil servants, farmers, and bankers, among others, are dedicated to the view that their efforts in the area of dance will contribute discipline as well as a sense of process and cultural awareness to the task of nation building.

The Jamaican National Dance Theatre Company at fifty-eight still has a ways to go, its members like to say even while lapping up the plaudits of audiences and critics at home and abroad.

Probably the words of a reviewer in the prestigious UK Dancing Times of November 2001 sums it up best:

“It is, on the one hand, a great wonder that so small an island has produced so remarkable a company. It is on the other hand, no wonder at all. For the cultures of Africa and of Europe have come together in a unique way on this island. African dancers chose to celebrate pelvic movements because the centre of the body — from which further life springs — is sacred. European dancers in contrast, chose under the influence of Christianity to censure pelvic movement and to celebrate instead bodily composure and possibilities of flowing periph eral movements, and extended footwork. Jamaican dancers who have worked to absorb both traditions, can ripple like snakes and promenade like flamingoes. Their dances can vibrate with power and float with decorum… Dance companies capable of delivering such life-informing and life-embracing messages are rare”.

It was St Lucian Nobel laureate Derek Walcott who once described a work by the NDTC as “older than revolution”; and it is Kamau Brathwaite, the Bajan icon of a poet-historian, who reminded his Caribbean compatriots and the world some time ago that…

The rational management and operation of the NDTC must therefore be credited for the five decades of achievements as follows:

(a) Mounting in Jamaica and the annual Seasons of Dance which have thrown up over 150 dance-works by local, regional and international choreographers;

(b) Serving as Cultural Ambassadors for over 120 overseas tours – to the United States and Canada, the United Kingdom, Finland and Germany, Australia and Russia (the old USSR), Venezuela, Panama and Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Martinique, Guyana, Grenada, Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago, St. Kits, Antigua, St. Thomas, St.Croix (US Virgin Islands), Bahamas, Bermuda;

(c) Founding and sustaining the national School of Dance – now a division of the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts;

(d) Fostering ‘community dance movement’ through partnership with the Festival Commission, now the Jamaica Cultural Devel opment Commission by the provision of adjudication services in the annual competitions involving youth groups and schools as well as devising syllabuses along with the Dance Co-ordinator;

(e) Conduct and fostering of research into rituals, music, Jamaican folklore and indigenous movement-forms. Works by Sheila Barnett, Cheryl Ryman (former NDTC Principals), Marjorie Whylie (Musical Director Emerita) as well as Rex Nettleford who served as source of energy for continuing research work done by tertiary level students pursing undergrad uate and graduate work in Dance, Cultural Studies and Perform ing Arts at such universities as the UWI, State University of New York at Brockport, Temple University as well as universities in Germany, Japan and the Netherlands. A number of such students have studied on NDTC Bursaries;

(f) Serving as model for national dance theatre companies in Barbados, Guyana, Dominica and more recently Belize. Consultancy services sought of the NDTC. The NDTC has served also as model for smaller Jamaican ensembles some of them now directed by NDTC alumni;

(g) Forging a vocabulary, set of techniques and style which are recognized as distinctly Jamaican/Caribbean.

It remains so at Fifty-eight and is pledged to continue exploring, experimenting, creating, disseminating and educating.