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“What do you think of the new NDTC?”
The question came from another patron on Friday night during the opening concert of the National Dance Theatre Company’s 2025 Season of Dance at The Little Theatre on Tom Redcam Drive. My answer was noncommittal. It was only half-time, and I had not yet reached a verdict.
Later, however, research showed me that the natural, inevitable tension between our desire to hold fast to the old and traditional and our willingness to embrace the new and different was manifest in the NDTC’s current repertoire. For the show, in song, dance and instrumental music, old pieces slide seamlessly into new ones.
Actually, ‘seamlessly’ refers only to the smoothness with which works follow into one another on stage. Mostly, during the two-hour-and-20-minute show, there’s a quick blackout between pieces, though sometimes a new item starts after the massive red curtain closes and reopens. But where theme and content are concerned, there’s some dissonance.
Take Friday’s first-half’s opening and closing numbers: differences abound. The former work is Rex Nettleford’s Ritual of the Sunrise (1998), described thus: “There is a force of exultation, a celebration of luck, when a writer [read ‘an artist’] finds himself [herself] a witness to the early morning of a culture that is defining itself, branch by branch, leaf by leaf, in that self-defining dawn, which is why, especially at the edge of the sea, it is good to make a ritual of the sunrise. Then the noun ‘Antilles’ ripples like the brightening water, and the sounds of leaves, palm fronds, and birds are the sounds of a fresh dialect, the native tongue…”.
Forget the deeper meanings of that metaphor-laden description; the piece is not about an actual sunrise. Using a traditional modern dance vocabulary, it really speaks to the dawning of a new Caribbean culture. The closing dance, Ascend, choreographed by American guest choreographer Crystal Frazier, speaks in hip-hop.
Both are danced by The Company (about 30 people), but, like the steps, the respective costumes reflect different generations and approaches. For the joyful Ritual, Arlene Richards designed costumes that could only be worn on stage, whether the minimal ones of the early movements or the colourful, voluminous apparel of later ones. On the other hand, for the quick-stepping Ascend, Frazier designed what is essentially street wear.
The first dance in the second half, Bloom: On Earth as it is in Heaven, is by another American guest choreographer, Avree Walker, a dance instructor and choreographer at the Las Vegas Academy of the Arts. In an online interview, he says that the piece, a celebration of Jamaica’s culture and history, evolved organically out of a conversation with NDTC Artistic Director Marlon Simms – who mentioned that the dance season’s overall theme is ‘Bloom’.
The final work, Nettleford’s Kumina (1971), is also a celebration of Jamaica, but while Bloom is an abstract work open to different interpretations, Kumina is specifically about that Jamaican folk form. As the online programme states:
“[It is] based on the Jamaican Afro-ritual to be found largely in the parish of St Thomas. The rites are held for a variety of occasions – for mourning, tombing, healing, thanksgiving and even when help is needed to win a court case or for winning a lover….” Its traditional music was arranged by former NDTC Musical Director Marjorie Whylie.
In his Artistic Director’s Message, Simms positively celebrates the mix of the old and the new. “We are thrilled to share a programme that bridges generations – honouring our legacy while boldly embracing the new. Audiences will experience the enduring brilliance of NDTC classics, works that remain culturally resonant, alongside five new choreographic offerings, each unique in voice and vision.”
He becomes more specific about sources in a later paragraph: “At the heart of this ever-blooming Company stands the legacy of our founding members – and most profoundly, our visionary co-founders, Professor the Honourable Rex Nettleford and Eddy Thomas. Their courage and conviction in the power of dance to reflect, shape, and elevate the Jamaican spirit remain the foundation of our work.”
The season’s new dances, apart from the already-mentioned Ascend and Bloom: On Earth as it is in Heaven, are the energetic, anguish-filled Home (Shavaughn Byndloss), and Clipped and Fallen (Mattu Perry), the last of which was not staged on opening night. Also new are the delightful musical pieces, conFUSION, a suite of traditional songs which focus on conflicts between men and women, and Influence, a spirited arrangement by Conrod Hall that pays homage to the Sleng Teng ‘riddim’ and the Sleng Teng resurrection.
ConFUSION, arranged by Musical Director Dr Kathy Brown, saw The NDTC Singers constantly moving about the stage, in a purposeful, choreographed manner, and every now and then taking on an acting role as a particular song demanded. The dozen or so attractively dressed men and women humorously delivered as many songs about numerous tragi-comic aspects of Jamaican life. The audience insisted on seeing the comedy in the situations presented and spent more time laughing than lamenting. Among the songs were Moutamassi, Yu Bin Deh, Yu Tell a Lie, Why People Bad-minded So, and Liza, Kibba Yu Mout.
What was common to all five on-stage aspects of the production – the activities (the dance, the song and the instrumental music) and the technical components (the lighting and the costumes) – was excellence. The show is a visual and an aural delight.
What do I think of the new NDTC? I love it – as much as the old.
The season continues, on weekends, until August 10.
English (US) ·