Arts & Culture

NDTC continues legacy

Patrick Earle and Tamara Noel in
Keita-Marie Chamberlain’s
Unconditional Love.

CHOREOGRAPHER Bert Rose's 1997 work Steal Away, was among the works to hold centre stage at the annual Morning of Music and Movement organised by the National Dance Theatre Company (NDTC) at the Little Theatre in St Andrew, yesterday. The work — performed in tribute to Eddy Thomas, the co-fou ... Read More

Who will it be?
ACTORS Glen Campbell, Nadean Rawlins, Christopher McFarlane and Sakina Deer have been predicted by t ... Read More

A Dance to Eddy
THE National Dance Theatre Company's (NDTC) annual Easter Sunday Morning of Movement and Music will ... Read More

PICTURE PERFECT - Jamaican artiste makes strides in US
FROM the storied era of the Renaissance, artists have used their work to express themselves. It is n ... Read More

Eddy Thomas, NDTC co-founder, dead

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Eddy Thomas and Barbara
Requa performing one NDTC’s
several pieces.

EDDY Thomas, co-founder of the National Dance Theatre Company (NDTC), died at his home in Montego Bay, St James, on Thursday. He was 82. Thomas, along with the late Professor Rex Nettleford, formed the dance troupe with 16 other members in 1962. Barry Moncrieffe, NDTC's artistic director, lauded Thomas for his contribution. "The NDTC would not exist today, nor would it be the culturally significant institution that it has become over five decades, had it not been for the vision and work of ou ... Read More

New bio on Miss Lou

Thursday, April 10, 2014

MISS Lou: Louise Bennett and Jamaican Culture is a new biography by professor Mervyn Morris. Distributed by Kingston's Ian Randle Publishers, (IRP) it will be released this month. Miss Lou covers Miss Lou's work as a poet, performer, storyteller, singer, actress, writer, broadcaster and children’s television show host. That diverse career spanned 50 years. According to a release from IRP, "The book is brief and affordable, and captures the life of a woman whose actions and life’s w ... Read More

Marley on show

Sunday, April 06, 2014

Photo of reggae star Bob Marley
which was taken by British
photographer Dennis Morris.

PHOTOGRAPHER Dennis Morris covered the key people and events that helped diversify British culture in the 1970s. His subjects included the punk movement, minority riots in urban centres and reggae superstar Bob Marley. Morris was a high school student when he first met Marley in 1974. The singer/songwriter was touring Britain and promoting his Island Records album, Natty Dread. They remained friends until Marley's death from cancer at age 36 in 1981. Twenty-eight of the photos he took of Mar ... Read More

New 'Saints' selected

BY RORY DALEY Observer writer daleyr@jamaicaobserver.com | Monday, March 17, 2014

Deiwght Peters (second right), CEO of Saint International, poses with the winners in the Fashion Face of the Caribbean 2014 and Avant Garde Designer of
Year award held at the Courtleigh Auditorium in St Andrew, on Saturday. From left are: Kimberly Martin, wearing the winning Avant Garde piece Campari
Eclipse; designer Simone Gordon; models Giovannie Johnson and Anushka McCalla. (PHOTO: GARFIELD ROBINSON)

GIOVANNIE Johnson and Anushka McCalla were chosen male and female Saint International Fashion Face of the Caribbean 2014 respectively, at the Courtleigh Auditorium in New Kingston, St Andrew, on Saturday. Both winners were selected from a field of 60 (40 women and 20 men) hoping to realise their dreams of walking runways of fashion centres around the world. "It feels fabulous to have won and I'll push forward with this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," 17-year-old Johnson told the Jamaica Obser ... Read More

Jambiz Int'l hits home run

BY RICHARD JOHNSON Observer senior reporter johnsonr@jamaicaobserver.com | Friday, March 14, 2014

The cast of If There’s a Will There’s a Wife contemplates their next move. From left: Sakina Deer, Courtney Wilson, Glen
Campbell, Camille Davis and Sharee McDonald-Russell. The play continues its run at the Centerstage Theatre in St Andrew.
(PHOTOS: BRYAN CUMMINGS)

LOCAL theatre producer Jambiz International definitely has a Midas touch when it comes to mounting productions. Over the years, this theatre company has put forward some strong plays that, even after their run, resonate with the Jamaican audience and their latest, If There's a Will There's a Wife, continues that tradition. So strong is this production that it copped 10 Actor Boy Awards nominations — the Jamaican award for excellence in local theatre. The nominations come in most of the m ... Read More

Dancers keeping pace despite ‘Overload’

Simone Morgan | Wednesday, March 05, 2014

FOR members of the dance group Overload Skankers, it is all about 'getting a hype' when they showcase their moves at parties. After four years on the dance circuit, Romario 'Reds' Douglas, Teroy 'Chukki' Dobson and Oshane 'Mutty' Forrest are still paying their dues. During a break from rehearsals recently, Douglas told the Jamaica Observer they are yet to be paid for their performances. "I must admit that after being placed fifth in the Dancing Dynamites competiton we have gotten a lot of exp ... Read More

JCDC gospel semis today

Wednesday, March 05, 2014

KINGSTON, Jamaica — The semi-final round of the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission's (JCDC) Gospel Song Competition will be held at the Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre in St Andrew today. Showtime is 6:00 pm. The 32 gospel hopefuls from the four islandwide eliminations will perform their original entries for a panel of judges. Each competitor will vie for the opportunity to become one of the top ten finalists. Admission is free. Read More

NDTC'S RHYTHM TWINS

By Richard Johnson Observer senior reporter | Sunday, March 02, 2014

DURING the early years of the National Dance Theatre Company (NDTC), Barry Moncrieffe and Patsy Ricketts made a name for themselves performing duets in some of its best known works. Fast-forward to 2014 and Kerry-Ann Henry and Marlon Simms are creating similar waves. Both consider themselves 'twins' as they were born hours apart on separate days — Simms on August 30 and Henry on August 31. "I have never met anyone who understands me like Marlon," bubbles Henry. "We think and say the sam ... Read More

Spoken word takes on life in Manchester

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Yasus Afari, organiser of Poetry
in Motion, delivering his piece at
Manchester Golf Club on Sunday.
(PHOTOS: GREGORY BENNETT

THE Poetry in Motion show held last Sunday at Manchester Golf Club, proved that Jamaican poetry is alive and well. A full auditorium was testament to that. There was no lapse in quality as each act either stirred the senses or tickled the funny-bone. Kelly Magnus, who got the ball rolling with Bill the Bully and a piece from her Little Lion series, revived the child in adults, who clapped and stomped to the musical accompaniment. Educator Charmaine Gooden-Monteith read several pieces from her ... Read More

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