The National Dance Theatre Company has always commanded a significant number of male dancers. Through their efforts, there are a lot of boys who are dancing in the festival. - File Photos It is a quiet evening and there is a row of delicious little girls dressed like little powdered sugar-coated plums on the stage. None of them are higher than the knee of an adult and as they perform their newly learnt turns, the audience gives a collective "Ahh!" However, after the little dance is over the dance teacher tells the parents in the audience that they should send their little boys to dance class, an idea they reject. Dance is one of those forms that have somehow been labelled feminine.
This is particularly interesting when it is realised how much stamina and strength it takes to be a dancer. Although it may look like poetry in motion, there is nothing feminine about it. According to the logic which labels male dancers as less than the masculine ideal, a man wearing tights who runs with a bit of pigskin is macho, but one who wears tights and hoists a 110lb woman into the air is a sissy.
L'Antoinette Stines says that she is not aware of any increase in the number of male dancers in the island. She said that there is a dance drain, because the males leave after they reach a stage in their training. She stated that for every dance class where you have 20 females, there are only one or two males. She notes, however, that on the popular dancing scene you may find more male dancers.
She also notes that male dancers generally start dancing later than their female counterparts and that they do not go into the dance studio until they are older and more confident.
Stine noted that there is the perception that all male dancers are of 'a particular sexual orientation'. This perception has often been related to the dance uniform of a leotard and tights. She says, however, that clothing is a reflection of culture and she sees tights as very European.
"We've been so hegemonically messed up," she says. "We feel that we're dancing when we're in tights!" Ms. Stines notes, however, that due to the fact that the dance routines which her company focuses on are generally reflective of Jamaica and the Caribbean, she does not need to dress her male dancers in tights.
In the case of the National Dance Theatre Company, Professor Rex Nettleford says that unlike other dance companies, they have always had a significant number of male dancers. He noted that the group started out with six male dancers: Audley Butler, Roman Critchlow, Bert Rose, Bary Moncrieffe, Eddy Thomas and himself. This year, however, they far surpassed this figure, having almost doubled it. "That's quite a number (11). That's a fantastic number for a company like ours. It's real development," Professor Nettleford enthused.
"Through our efforts there are a lot of boys who are dancing in the festival." He notes, however, that this will not mean that they will continue to dance once they leave school.
This trend of dancers in the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) festival was clearly seen, wherein males entered either in all male groups or in solos and copped some of the top prizes. At the primary level, males from Alley Primary showed that they were 'bad inna style' and walked home with at least one national trophy for their efforts. The boys from Bellefield High School in Manchester also received a national medal for their dance 'Easy Street'. Their dances were both popular.
Marlon Simms is a dancer with the NDTC. He is one of those dancers who came through the festival route, while at St. Jago High. "It was an outlet to express myself. I was very shy," Simms says to explain how he became involved with dance in high school. "I felt alive and strong," he explained further. Simms explained that his involvement in dance continued past high school, because as he learnt more, it created a hunger to learn even more.
Simms enjoys both dancing and the choreography. He explains that they give him different pleasures. From the former, he gets the joy of capturing what someone else has to say, while from the latter he gets the joy of making his statement through someone else.
Orville MacFarlane was the first male to dance with the Tivoli dancers. The group now has five. McFarlane began dancing with the group when he went to work at Tivoli. Although he had not considered joining when he was a student, he thinks that more males may be going into dance because they have paid little or no attention to the stereotypes attached to the male dancer. He argues that male dancers who stick with the art focus more on the positive than the negative side of being a male dancer.
Nettleford is a big proponent of the positives of being a dancer. "It is really good you know," he says with a laugh. "It keeps the pot belly away for a little longer. Plus there is the added thing of intellectual development." Professor Nettleford also argues that the life of a dancer is longer than that of all the other athletes because of the serious sustained training they go through.
Orville Hall understands this training process. He began his dance career in the popular arena, and began to study modern and folk dance almost five years ago. He notes that when he began studying these forms, he really began to challenge his body. "The body is not seriously challenged in dancehall," he explained. "When you do modern and traditional, you have to use your muscles." Hall currently teaches at EXED Community College and went with the Stella Maris dancers to Japan recently.
Hall explains that popular male dancers avoid the stigma because people view popular dance and ballet or modern dance differently. He argues that while modern contemporary dancers train in such a way to make it look effeminate, dancehall signifies 'ragamuffin', and thus it says that 'you are straight'.
Shawn Gordon is also a dancer with Tivoli. He notes that what keeps him dancing is his love for the artform. He notes that he has been dancing since he was a child. "It's just my ambition to be a dancer, and I just love it so much," he says. At present, Gordon is hoping to earn a scholarship to Edna Manley College for the Visual and Performing Arts. Other than keeping him fit, and allowing him to fulfil his dream, dance has another side benefit for Gordon. "This is keeping me out of trouble," he says.
