Company Dance Theatre has exciting season

Michael Reckord, Gleaner Writer

Tony Wilson's recorded voice shook with emotion as he introduced a very special dance at the Little Theatre last Sunday night.  The dance, Rooted ... in the Spirit, had been choreographed by Wilson as a tribute to the late Rex Nettleford, artistic director of the National Dance Theatre company (NDTC).

The audience heard Wilson, artistic director of The Company Dance Theatre, recall "with reverence" his desire to become an NDTC dancer, a desire which was later fulfilled.

Some years later he founded his own company, which over the weekend celebrated its 22nd season of dance.

Rooted ... in the Spirit, the dance, was the final item on the evening's programme, also bearing the same name.

The name came from the concept of Nettleford's work expressed in this paragraph that Wilson wrote for the printed programme:

"Among the world's most celebrated and revered dance icons. Professor Nettleford's artistic influence continues to transcend time, space and generations. His dance pieces over the years have wooed audiences, not just in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean, but also in Europe, North and South Amercia. Professor Nettleford was instrumental in globalising our culture, and brought the geopolitical and economic term, 'globalisation' into the dance world with his eclectic choreographies that had roots in various cultures, and audience appreciation the world over."

The first item for the evening was Wilson's Rebirth (2004), a dance in six movements. Mainly celebratory, the work features mainly fast paced, at times frenetic music (by John Williams), beautiful costumes and the full company, which was divided and subdivided at various times. The numbers ranged from one (a lovely solo by Emily Eyre), to two (Samantha Chin Yee and Collin Blackwood) and more.

The dance introduced many elements which were to be found in the dances which followed - high-energy, fluid, well-controlled bodies, fine choreography, eye-catching costumes, and beautiful music.

All these contributed to what the audience clearly felt was, to judge by the applause, an excellent show.

Shelley Maxwell's Meditation in Blue (2004) featured Chin Yee, Eyre, Gabrielle Taylor and Steven Cornwall in a worshipful mood, dancing to a spiritual, Trouble so Hard, by Moby. In blue costumes looking like jump suits, the dancers executed quite spectacular leaps and lifts, and made frequent signs of the cross. The smooth segues from one move or pose to another elicited enthusiastic applause.

Images of dancing in Broadway musicals and at Harlem's Apollo Theatre were suggested in the next item, Wilson's Silhouette (2000).

The dancers - women in long dresses and the men in tight shirts and pants - were elegance personified as they moved to Duke Ellington's music. One complaint, though: the music was too loud; the volume was such that it may well have caused damage to the hearing of those seated close to the large speakers on stage.

Michael Holgate's Creole Blooming ushered in the intermission. The choreographer's stated theme was : "Own all your roots; be true to yourself; and the future is yours to bloom." Holgate as an experienced practitioner of the dramatic arts (he writes, directs and acts in plays), was evident, as he created both characters and a story situation for this work. Essentially, it shows young men and women flirting with one another, perhaps in a pre-mating session. The African drumming was ideal for the dance; it all seemed so earthy.

A New Beginning, created by guest choreographer Denzil Bailey, opened the second half of the programme. A special feature of the item was couples dancing together, often very acrobatically.

Dramatic picture

With numerous exits and entrances, the numbers of the dancers onstage kept changing rapidly. But despite the speed of the dance, to heavy drumming, grace was always exhibited.

An excerpt, The Die is Cast from Wilson's full-length ballet Rose Hall, was the penultimate work. Very dramatically, and dressed in full black, the characters, Annie Palmer and Robert, the bookkeeper, portrayed a struggle that could only end in death. The dance's final dramatic picture, shown in a sudden red light, was of Robert holding Annie by the throat with one hand, and with upraised slave whip in the other.

A dance in six movements, the final piece was the tribute to Nettleford. Wilson deliberately echoed Nettleford's style of choreography as he moved the dancers through the segments with self-explanatory titles like The Journey, Overcoming, Strength in Unity and Celebration of Life.

The costumes and high hair pieces both suggested Africa. So did most of the music and the final song, Freedom is Coming Tomorrow. Loud, long applause showed the audience's appreciation of the work, and the evening.