By Tanya Batson, Staff Reporter
While some sing for their supper, Neila dances her way to tuition for her MA in Physical Theatre at the University of Surrey, UK. - File
THE DECISION to pursue postgraduate work can be a daunting one, which most people either pay out of pocket (after years of work) or depend on a scholarship. However, when neither of these options are available, the Master degree dream can easily be lost.
Not so for dancer Neila Ebanks. She has decided that if the scholarship will not come to her, she will create her own. As such, she is producing a show from which the proceeds will go toward her tuition.
Neila Ebanks has been dancing since she was only a few years old. She came to dance as a part of the therapy for her legs, but dance has now become a way of life.
"Dance used to be a hobby, it used to be for fun, and now I have no hobby. Everything I do has to do with dance," she explains. Having gone through the ropes of getting a Bachelors degree at the University of the West Indies, she has long decided that dancing is what she wants to do.
"I think the dance is the only thing that kept me there (UWI)," Neila remarks. During her time at the university she danced with the University Dance Society as well as Stella Maris Dance Ensemble. "From the first sociology exam, I knew this wasn't what I wanted to do," she explained.
So, after finishing her sentence at UWI, she answered the call. However, Neila also decided that simply joining a company and sticking with them was not the way she wanted to go. Therefore, she decided not to continue dancing with the NDTC, with whom she had danced for a season.
She became a little known entity... a freelance dancer. Having worked with companies such as L'Acadco, choreographed on productions such as Dat Ting and One Love, as well as teaching at the Edna Manley College for the Visual and Performing Arts, Neila wants to broaden, or change, rather, her horizons.
"I could just stay here and get comfortable. Maybe teach, open a studio and teach the same people every year... but I wouldn't be happy. I'd like to go away and subsume myself and learn something big, or something small," she explains. She notes that she is no longer at a crossroads, searching to understand herself and her art. Now she is about to start a journey down a new road.
With that, she applied to schools in Europe and got into three of them. The Physical Theatre M.A. programme at the University of Surrey in England was the one which appealed to her most because it includes theatre as well as dance, which will satisfy her wish to diversify. The programme also focuses on the theories as well as the techniques of performance. This programme should truly appeal to a woman who was voted the best performer when she graduated from the School of Dance at the Edna Manley College.
This was only step one, however. Having been accepted into school, she now had to figure out how to cover her expenses, which should run up to 15,000 pounds sterling for the year.
The next step was to try all the usual routes to get the money. "I tried everything short of selling myself," she explained. She even went so far as to gain an audience with the Minister of Education, Burchell Whiteman, but all this was to no avail.
Fortunately, inspriration was waiting for her, on-line. Like many members of generation digital, Neila uses instant messenger. One night, she was engaged in an e-conversation with an old friend and they discussed her situation.
Neila points out that at the time, she was feeling she would not attain her goal. Many of her plans had been sidelined in lieu of her work with NDTC this summer. However, her friend gave her suggestions of how to get the money. Some of these ideas were ones she had earlier considered. Of these, the decision to have a show to raise funds was the one that most appealed to her, and a project she had wanted to pursue months ago.
So, I'll Send You a Postcard was born. The show appears to be a 'we wish you well card' from the myriad of talented Jamaicans Neila has worked with.
In essence, I'll Send You a Postcard is a variety show. It will feature dance, music, poetry and storytelling. Persons and groups that will be found on the show are NDTC, Stella Maris Dance Ensemble, L'Acadco, Ibo Cooper, Dingo, Amina Blackwood-Meeks, To-Isis, Dance Theatre Xaymaca, and Aisha.
Neila remarks that she chose the participants for two reasons. She says that first, they are very talented, and second, they are people she wants other people to see. In some cases she requested the pieces she wanted to include, but in others, the decision was left up to the artistes.
Though she claims that she is not a very pro-active person (unless absolutely necessary) Neila, with the help of friends, has managed to put together this show in just three weeks.
Neila remarks that other that giving her a brilliant plan to earn her way through school, dance has taught her much. Not only has she learnt to think outside the box, which I'll Send You a Postcard demonstrates, but she has learnt tolerance, discipline, posture and poise. She says, "Yuh see, das why people mus mek dem children dance yuh know." Evidently, she has a point.
I'll Send You a Postcard takes place tomorrow at the Little Theatre at 8 p.m. Neila promises that anyone who signs the guest book and leaves contact information, will get a postcard when she gets there.
