The NDTC got rave reviews following their presentation in Trinidad recently. Here one of their dancers 'busts a move' during the opening of their season of dance, at the Little Theatre, Tom Redcam Avenue, in July. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer

Jamaica's renowned National Dance Theatre Company (NDTC) took Trinidad and Tobago by storm according to a newspaper critique coming out of Port-of-Spain. The company, which was invited by the Trinidadian Government to appear at a 'signal event', played twice in the refurbished Queens Hall Theatre in Port-of-Spain and once at the Naparima Bowl in San Fernando where Carifesta Coordinator Joy Caesar lauded the Jamaican ensemble for its professionalism and artistic excellence before a capacity audience headed by the parliamentary representative for San Fernando.

But it was the review by Wayne Bowman which dubbed the NDTC appearance a "sensational performance" followed by a no-holds-barred write-up headed 'Jamaica wows 'em'.

"At the risk of seeming to indulge in reckless employment of superlatives," writes Bowman, "one must report that the performance delivered by the National Dance Theatre of Jamaica at Queens Hall, Port-of-Spain, on Friday left the audience spell-bound."

Rhythmic convulsions

The performance of the solo Sweet in the Morning by Marlon Simms, according to the report, "sent the patrons wild with his rhythmic convulsions and contortions executed with the aid of a small bench on stage. People screamed and cheered as Simms moved through his paces that were at times violently sensual but all the time transmitting a sense of spirituality".

Rex Nettleford's 'Katrina' also came in for high praise. The dance work's seven episodes "portray the suffering brought on the people of the New Orleans by Katrina and the various stages of agony experienced by them in the days and weeks that followed". With further praise for the musicians and the singers of the company under the direction of Marjorie Whylie, the Trinidadian critic commented that its "style incorporates eclectic dance forms ranging from those indigenous to Jamaica to classical and modern". The critique ends, "the esteem with which the NDTC is held internationally is no small measure due to the founding artistic director and principal choreographer Rex Nettleford, one of Jamaica's great intellectual and creative talents."

A segment of the company (dancers and drummers) then went on to Tobago to conduct a workshop under the direction of Associate Director Barry Moncrieffe before returning to Jamaica.