NDTC mourns passing of founding member

The National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica (NDTC) has announced with deep regret the passing of Monica McGowan, founding member and former principal dancer. She died at her home last Wednesday after a brief illness.

McGowan was one of the 16 founding members of the internationally acclaimed company, which was founded in 1962 by the late Professor the Hon Rex Nettleford and Eddy Thomas.

NDTC artistic director Barry Moncrieffe said McGowan had served the 50-year-old organisation with distinction, both on and off the stage.

He said McGowan's gift for dance was evident in the more than 52 works performed with the company. Her depth and range as an artist was palpable in the leading dance roles she played, which included Liza in Legend of Lovers' Leap (Eddy Thomas, 1962); Lucifer Lucifer (Rex Nettleford, 1970); the protagonist in Shadows (Sheila Barnett, 1970); and Mountain Women (Barnett, 1972). She was revered in her role as Judith, the mother of Judas in The Rope and the Cross (Barnett, 1974); as Jamaican heroine Nanny in Ni-Woman of Destiny (Barnett, 1976) and in Wonder, Love and Raise (Nettleford, 1977).

The late Professor Rex Nettleford in his 1985 book, Dance Jamaica, described the petite-framed McGowan as "a stylish and intelligent dancer with dramatic power and an impeccable gift for phrasing," and a "highly intelligent artist and performer".

Extensive touring

She toured extensively with the NDTC to the United States, Canada, Germany, England, Guyana, Barbados and Trinidad, and also performed in the Little Theatre Movement's Pantomime as well as in productions by the Sohhih School of Dance and the Ivy Baxter Creative Dance Group.

McGowan's early training in the Cecchetti method of Classical Ballet was at the Soohih School. She also studied with Dance Theatre of Harlem and with Madam Naila in New York, as well as with Caridad Nicholas and Roni Mahler. That, along with her training in modern dance with Ivy Baxter and Neville Black, the Martha Graham School and Lavinia Williams, built the foundation for her role as dance educator at the Jamaica School of Dance where she taught for more than 20 years.

NDTC founding members Barbara Requa and Bert Rose who co-founded the Jamaica School of Dance with the late Sheila Barnett, and worked and danced alongside McGowan, described her as a highly dedicated dancer and teacher.

"Monica was a true professional who lived for the dance. She was always elegant and sweet and only had kind words to say. She was a good friend and a good human being with an enormous heart," Rose said, adding that she will be dearly missed.

Requa remembers McGowan as "a most dedicated, diligent and meticulous teacher in how she prepared and worked with her students".

"Many students benefited from her commitment to teaching the Cecchetti method of ballet in Jamaica, and she was instrumental in sustaining its success, following through with preparing students for exams until only days before she took ill."

On a personal level, Requa says she was a "wonderful spirit". "She had a great sense of humour that she applied in her teaching methods."

McGowan was a member of the Cechetti Council of America and the Professional Dance Teachers' Association (USA). She trained thousands of children and adults in ballet and modern dance at the Holy Childhood Ballet School where she was artistic director and principal tutor and at the Soohih School of Ballet.

Her spirit of voluntarism was not limited to the NDTC. She was also as an adjudicator for the National Festival Competition, taught summer school dance courses in the Cayman Islands, worked with the Institute of Jamaica and gave more than 20 years of services to the Junior Creative Dance.

In recognition of this, McGowan was the recipient of several accolades for her contribution to dance and dance education, the highest of which was the Institute of Jamaica's Centenary Medal for Dance and Drama in 1979.

In its release, the NDTC said:

"The National Dance Theatre Company extends heartfelt sympathy to her sister Micky McGowan and to the rest of her family. The NDTC will pay tribute to its late founding member at the service in celebration of her life, to be held at the Holy Cross Church on September 8."