QUILT Performing Arts Company is on a mission to transform Jamaica’s art landscape.

The group, which was started in November 2010, was Friday’s guest performers at Bank of Jamaica’s lunch-hour concert in downtown Kingston.

The pieces were a vibrant mixture including the spoken word, music, song and dance — all executed with a level of maturity and showmanship. In keeping with Jamaica’s 50th anniversary of Independence from Britain, the works had a rich nationalistic feel which went down well with the audience, who filled the Central Bank’s auditorium.

The event also highlighted the depth of talent which exists in Jamaica and the strong link between youth and the performing arts.

Rayon McLean, Quilt’s artistic director, said the company had its genesis at the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies, when a group of seven friends decided to mount a production for the annual drama fest, Tallawah.

“We decided to enter a week before the start of the festival and won best production,” he said.

The victory was encouraging as by January 2011, the group of friends conducted auditions with a view to increase the talent pool and took steps to formalise the company. Consequently, in just over a year, the company grew to 20. Today, the troupe’s membership stands at 50 performers.

McLean explained that the main thrust of Quilt Performing Art Company is to explore transformative theatre and introduce it to the Jamaican audience.

“The work we are most known for is ’73?’ This was based on the police/military incursion into Tivoli Gardens in 2010. What we did was to create a piece based on interviews we did with residents. That is the edgy type of theatre we want to bring to the stage — theatre based on issues,” the artistic director said.

Quilt’s work, however, is not limited to the stage. The performing arts company sees itself as a family and therefore mentorship, guidance and counselling among its members is a key component.

For McLean, the age of his members – 12 to 26 years — provides the ideal opportunity for pairing and support. The activities off-stage include assistance at a homework centre and counselling. The group is also strong on developing its writers, choreographers and directors.

Throughout Jamaica’s history, a number of performance troupes featuring young people have come to the fore.

In 1962, Rex Nettleford, a young academic and Eddy Thomas, a dance tutor who had just returned to Jamaica after studying with renowned American dance company Martha Graham, formed the National Dance Theatre Company.

The list, in recent times, also includes the now-defunct Little People and Teen Players’ Club, founded by beauty queen Cathy Levy; The Area Youth Foundation; Ashe; and the Nexus Performing Arts Company.

These companies have, in many instances, rescued at-risk youngsters, who, through the performing arts, have risen to greater heights.

According to Conroy Wilson, executive artistic director with Ashe, this transformative element of the arts is one of the core beliefs of the company.

“Through our work, we use entertainment to educate — edutain. This results in a greater sense of awareness which translates into confidence, discipline and professionalism. We have found that we can use ‘edutainment’ to teach anything, even those issues which were previously not spoken about, and bring about behavioural change,” said Wilson, who has been a member of Ashe since its inception in 1993. He was also a founding member of the Little People and Teen Players’ Club.

One of the issues which Ashe has assisted in educating while entertaining its audience is the once-tabooed subject of HIV/AIDS.