- ContributedNDTC Dancers in performance to the choreography of Arsenio Gonzales.
THE NATIONAL Dance Theatre Company's Season of Dance for 2000 is to open on Friday, July 21 with a gala at the Little Theatre in New Kingston.
It promises to be a celebration of 38 years of exploration, experimentation, dialogue with the roots of Jamaican/Caribbean culture and the making of an internationally acclaimed vocabulary, technique and style.
The creative diversity of the repertoire, the versatility of the dancers, singers and musicians and the wide range of the company's artistic concerns will again reflect the texture of Jamaican and Caribbean life and living.
From the ancestral sounds of traditional songs and music arranged by the multi-talented musical director, Marjorie Whylie to Buju Banton's reggae and dancehall music; from the classic compositions of Duke Ellington to the chants and township music of South Africa; from European melodies brought to life by African diasporic rhythms; from the simple love duets to concerns about environmental degradation and the universal quest for spirituality, the season promises to seriously engage its audiences while it entertains.
Some seven choreographers will engage the attention of this year's attendees. They are Arsenio Calderon, Monica Lawrence, Arlene Richards, as well as veteran creators Clive Thompson, Bert Rose and artistic director Rex Nettleford himself.
As in former years, a fledgling young choreographer will be introduced. This season it will be Christopher Walker, NDTC- scholarship winner who studied at the Edna Manley College.
Some five new works are to be mounted of recent classics under the direction of artistic co-ordinator Barry Moncrieffe.
The season will run until August 20 at the Little Theatre to be followed by an overseas tour to Atlanta, Georgia, in early September.
