Theatre facility/concert hall needed
Published:Sunday | September 4, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Chester Francis-Jackson, Contributor
On Sunday, August 21, the curtains came down on the National Dance Theatre Company's (NDTC) 49th season, playing mostly to full houses for its monthlong duration!
It was a momentous season that saw two former prime ministers, its sole surviving patron, The Most Honourable Edward and Carla Seaga, and The Most Honourable Percival Patterson in attendance. Youth, Sports and Culture Minister Olivia 'Babsy' Grange attended on the final night.
Reviewing the NDTC's 49th season cannot not be done in the sole context of the company's performances and/or repertoire, as its history and evolution are linked umbilically with the emergence of independent Jamaica. The motivational force behind the idea of the NDTC was the forging of a national cultural identity separate from the inherited sociocultural norms of our colonisers
In this respect, it is instructive to recall a much-talked about episode in the company's history and development. In its early stages, during an international tour and on a stop in London, after a performance, the copywriters for the leading dailies at the time took the company to task for its aberrant technique. Needless to say, this did not go down well with the NDTC's founder/principal choreographer at the time, the late Professor Nettleford. After being made aware of the slew of headlines ravishing the company's technique and performance, he hosted a press conference. He lambasted the would-be critics for their learned position of ignorance by seeking to compare the NDTC's technique and form to European ballet.
Needless to say, the lesson the professor gave to the would-be critics is that the NDTC was not there in Britain to ape European dance style, particularly ballet, but was there to share the Jamaican dance expressions, born out of the Afro-Caribbean experience. Suffice it to say, since then, no critic has dared to use the European yardstick to measure the ability, quality and/or technique of the NDTC.
In assessing the NDTC 49th season, one does so against the background of the many social battles and prejudices the company has staved off over the years to emerge as the region's premier dance theatre troupe. They have earned international acclaim on world tours in the United States, the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR), Great Britain, and the Caribbean.
In this context, the NDTC is not only a triumph, it has helped in the shaping of Jamaica's image abroad, as an emerging cultural force, particularly at a time when many post colonial societies were struggling to assert their own national, cultural and social identity. The NDTC was at the vanguard, of the fight for post-colonial cultural independence and the recognition of those traditions that were subjugated and/or stifled by 'backra-massa' in attempts to promote the concept of their social and cultural superiority!
Today, one of the very strong pillars underpinning the success of the NDTC is the fact that at its core was a cast of characters drawn from the very quilt of Jamaican society. The company was and is comprised of members of the upper, middle and lower classes representing all complexions. This in contrast to being some kind of a 'black power' movement, as was the wont of others at the time, who failed to recognise the complex coalition of people that accounted for most post-colonial societies!
The 49th season was a phenomenal success. In terms of continuity, the infusion of young talent, while maintaining the character of its founding dancers, choreographers, musicians and singers, the company was spot on! In terms of its relevance to the emerging Jamaica, the company is even more so relevant now!
With its cadre of front-office and backstage production personnel, the company has been a leading force in helping to keep the nation focused, on its own, instead of 'selling' out to the influence of the mass media and its propensity for cultural domination! Sadly, while the NDTC has been good for Jamaica and good to Jamaica, Jamaica has been lukewarm in return and some would even say, Jamaica has neglected the company!
Sadly, the 49th season, successful though it was lay bare some of the many self-inflicted shortcoming of a developing nation, the country continues to ignore this 'industry' to the continued impoverishment of its people!
Jamaica is still lacking a functioning theatre/concert hall, with not just capacity to facilitate an audience of more than a few hundreds, but the capacity for state-of-the-art sound and technical accommodation, and adequate spaces for parking and leisure!
We get bogged down in the numbers game of bragging just how many tourists visit our shores while not recognising just how few we are getting as we brag about our beaches and rum, while missing the fact that the millions of visitors who flock to Paris, do so for the cultural experience. They do so to visit the Louvre, stroll the Champs-Elysees, and to bask in the man-made reflected glory of the Arc de Triomphe!
The NDTC has kept faith in the nation and its ideals, the nation has not reciprocated and so for the 49th season, guests packed into a stuffy and sweltering Little Theatre, and suffered the intolerable heat as penance for daring to support the arts!
The lack of a proper concert hall and theatre facilities not only bedevils our national development, but the absence of a credible plan, or any at all, by successive administrations is a monumental testimony to the fact that those entrusted with the management of the affairs of the nation have been found wanting.
As we move forward, with the nation and the NDTC set to celebrate 50 years as an independent nation and the latter as a premier cultural force and change agent, the way forward must include a proper theatre facility, one for each city, and a concert hall as part of its development!
We cannot continue to look to sea, sun and beaches and their diminishing returns for our economic salvation. We must now turn to our culture, our history and ways of harnessing the vast untapped potential to the benefit of the people!
We, too, can and should create our own contemporary 'historical' landmarks, museums and attractions based on our history and aspirations to accelerate economic independence! For our 50th anniversary of Independence, let us at least begin to sow the seeds, if not for us, then in memory of those who sacrificed to get us here, and for those to come!
Photos by Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer