DTX’s two decades of dance
The second half of the year is dance season in Jamaica. Beginning in August with the National Dance Theatre Company and running till the early December, all major troupes hold their annual seasons.
Last weekend, it was Barbara McDaniel’s Dance Theatre Xaymaca (DTX), which took to the boards at the Little Theatre in St Andrew.
This season marked the company’s 20th anniversary and McDaniel and her team clearly put some effort into ensuring that what was put on stage was indeed worthy of the occasion.
DTX is never without drama and the opening piece had its fair share. Evolution, the 2001 work by Kirk Rowe, opened and closed with a candlelight ritual and is punctuated with drumming. While visually appealing, the dancers in this piece failed to bring the work to life as many did not seem to be present. Even though there were spirited moments, the emotional connection vital to moving the story along was lacking.
McDaniel loves mass choreography — a stage filled with dancers moving, arms flailing, skirts twirling, all in unison. Glorious Days and Freedom Song saw the stage awash with colour and movement. Of particular note was the jazz movement which form the opening sequence to Freedom Song. Here the dancers seemed to have been taken out of the comfort zones and, thus, had to work evening harder to produce the desired results.
The complex choreography of Arsenio Andrade in Rotation, also pushed the dancers, but made them show their mettle. The physicality required by this Cuban choreographer made for an interesting watch. Tumble sequences, leaps and extensions all created levels and shapes which were all aesthetically pleasing.
Duakhamba created by Natalie Gallimore — former DTX dancer turned choreographer — is a work with tremendous potential. Ostensibly a duet (a male supports the two females dancers by holding a prop in place), the work is visually pleasing. However, a major flaw is that it is performed in demi-pointe. It, therefore, comes across as dancers ‘trying’ to perform classical ballet moves. Had the work been staged en-pointe, it would have brought the work to life and added a new dimension to the brilliant base work that Gallimore has created. Those great lines and shapes would have been elongated en pointe and another layer and dynamic added to the dance.
This layering and dance dynamic was used to great effect on Slap Weh.
This dancehall piece, replete with all the latest dance moves, was given another dimension when a dancer performed an interesting mix of classical ballet and dancehall moves en pointe.
It is this level of dynamism and versatility that makes a Jamaican dance company’s repertoire special and unique, and DTX can take a bow for this work and indeed their 20th anniversary season.