A tribute to Rex Nettleford

by Chevon Stewart

Growing up as a Black female studying dance has been an interesting journey. From studying Classical Ballet, Jazz, Tap, and Modern dance at an early age I realized that because of certain prejudices of the Ballet world I was never going to be a Classical Ballerina if I wanted to stay in the dance world that I was going to have to be a modern dancer. Sadly this is a realization that many young black dancers come to. To this date there have only been several successful Black ballet dancers (mainly men) who have danced in world renowned Ballet companies, one of whom is Arthur Mitchell who founded the Dance Theater of Harlem in 1969. Where most Black people have left their mark as dancers and choreographers has been in the Modern dance world.

What is Modern Dance? Well, it is very hard to describe. The creation of modern dance came about when dancers in the late 1800’s no longer wanted to dance in the classical ballet form. In that sense it was revolutionary to western culture (although many indigenous cultures where dancing like this for thousands of years). Simply stated Modern dancers wore no shoes and performed and put their bodies in positions that were not characteristic of ballet. While dance historians write about the origins of modern dance being founded mainly by American whites and Europeans at the time, we now know that their where several very notable black choreographers and anthropologists who were also doing their own work at this time. Choreographers and anthropologists like Pearl Primus and Katherine Dunham traveled to places like Africa and the Caribbean in the early 1900’s to study dance and culture and bring back dances of those regions to share with the American culture. The foundation of their work has lead famous choreographers such as Alvin Ailey and Lester Horton to find dance companies of their own during the civil right’s movement.

While these pioneers in Black Dance past several years go, in the past year and a half, the world has lost several renowned modern dance artists and Choreographers some of whom are Merce Cunningham, Pina Bausch and Rex Nettleford. Merce Cunningham comes out of the American tradition of modern dance, Pina Bausch out of the German tradition and Rex Nettleford comes from the Jamaican tradition. I was very familiar with “Cunningham technique” from my training in college and even with the work of Pina Bausch who I’ve seen numerous times at the Brooklyn Academy of Music however, up until 2008 I had never seen or heard of Rex Nettleford. As a professional dancer born in America but having family roots in Jamaica, it was a major blow to my ego that I had no prior information on Rex Nettleford until I began my own personal studies of Jamaican dance and culture in late 2008.

The depth and complexity of Mr. Nettleford’s work is inspiring not just as a Choreographer but as a cultural ambassador for Jamaica. He was born on February 3, 1933 in Bunker Hill, Trelawny. At a very early age he found the importance of education and studied at Cornwall College were he discovered his talent in choreography. He continued studying History at the University of the West Indies and shortly afterwards was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship and studied Politics at Oxford University. Immediately after finishing his work at Oxford, he came back to Jamaica continuing his work in Academia while at the same time founding the National Dance Theater of Jamaica (NDTC) in 1962. This was the first dance company in Jamaica using Jamaican folklore traditions and music in a European Framework. In an effort to preserve Jamaica’s rich culture, he put onstage traditional ritual and religious dances like Kumina and Pocomania for people around the world to see. Mr. Nettleford has also contributed to Jamaican culture by writing several books on Caribbean and culture dance some of them are: Caribbean Culture Identity: The case of Jamaica, Mirror, Mirror: Identity, Race and Protest in Jamaica, Dance Jamaica: Renewal and continuity, The National Dance Theater of Jamaica. Because of all of his work Mr. Nettleford has also won many prestigious awards and has worked extensively with The University of the West Indies as the Deputy Vice chancellor.

Nettleford died from a heart attack on February 3, 2010 at the age of 77 in Washington D.C. while attending a conference for the University of West Indies. Author Albertina Jefferson states, “Nettleford's importance to the Caribbean derives from the fact that his master project in life has been the decolonization of the Caribbean spirit and imagination. His writings and lectures reflect a profound conviction in the creative power of the peoples of the region, a power struggling to unleash itself from the conjunction of historical and neo-colonial forces.” As young choreographer, I hope that I continue to make his vision grow by breaking new grounds in the modern dance world and sharing with people of Caribbean and non Caribbean descent the importance of our culture. Because the work of artist from the African Diasporas is not being taught in American education system, it is the responsibility of individual artists to keep this information alive and pass it down to future generations to come.

The National Dance Theater of Jamaica is performing this week at the Walt Whitman Theater on the Brooklyn College Campus March 6th and 7th for more information click on this link http://www.brooklyncenter.com/.