by R. Pikser

Rex Nettleford and Eddy Thomas founded the National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica 53 years ago and to celebrate Jamaican culture and its African roots. Now, with former Associate Director and lead dancer Barry Moncrieffe directing the group, it still speaks to the Jamaican diaspora. 

Mr. Moncrieff has chosen to keep Mr. Nettleford’s pieces in the repertoire, and this is a wise decision.  The company is composed of amateurs in the literal and best sense of the word:  The performers are not paid, and they love what they do.  At the same time, they are more limited than they might be if the company were the only job they had.  Mr. Nettleford knew how to make the most of what his dancers were able to do and to stage them brilliantly.  The opening and closing pieces of this evening, his Drumscore, and Kumina, works for the entire company, show the African roots of the dancing and music, have a folk feeling and are high energy, sure to captivate an audience.  These pieces will endure for many years not only because the folk element continues to speak to the Jamaican community and to remind them of their roots, but also because Mr. Nettleford was a master at that type of choreography and staging.

If his Dialogue for Three is less striking, that may be because it is an earlier piece and also because the dancers might need a bit of coaching specific to that type of dance.  Clive Thompson left Jamaica to dance many years with the Graham and Ailey companies, then became a choreographer.  The excerpt from his Ode was impressive in its demands on the dancers, but could have used some dynamic variation.  Chris Walker’s Rough Drafts, created just last year, is the the company’s most recent piece.  It uses the high energy group work that the company does so well, but it needs focus.

Sulkari, created on the company Danza Nacional de Cuba, is a striking combination of modern dance and African forms, a celebration of the religious aspect of the act of procreation.  The three couples, nearly always moving in unison, which gave them extra power, were at once sculptural, sensual, and highly erotic.  This piece, created by Eduardo Rivero-Walker in 1980, was a gift to NDTC as part of a cultural exchange agreement between Jamaica and Cuba, and the dancers and the singers and drummers created an atmosphere that set the movement up perfectly, taking us out of the everyday into the realm of the loas. 

The musicians were a treat throughout the evening.  Live music accompanying dance is always special, and these drummers and singers were all that one could wish.  The drummers moved the show along at high energy from the first to the last.  The chorus members not only sang well, but additionally, they moved charmingly in their piece, Play Time. 

Under Mr. Moncrieffe, NDTC is maintaining its roots even as it moves forward.  Their use of new choreographers, along with a clear idea of their connection to their island past and the past of their island will keep the work meaningful to their public.  Certainly the audience on this evening at BCPA was thrilled to see the company.  But all of us should be thrilled. A group of non-professionals, people with other jobs and responsibilities, performing with such discipline and dedication and excellence should inspire us all to do more and better and to dedicate ourselves to something bigger than we are.

National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica (NDTC)
March 22^nd-23^rd, 2015
Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts
At Brooklyn College

Tickets $36-$75
www.brooklyncenter.org
718 951 4500