The National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica (NDTC) is taking its annual Easter Sunday Morning of Music and Movement to the virtual space next Sunday.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the annual celebration in music and dance; however, due to the current global health crisis the NDTC , like so many entities worldwide has been forced to stage the event online.

“We have a virtual presentation of memorable works featuring past and present generations of artists in celebration the 40th anniversary of the event. Works featured will be by Rex Nettleford, Sheila Barnett, Barbara Requa, Bert Rose, Clive Thompson, Arsenio Andrade, and Chris Walker. The music of Marjorie Whylie, Ewan Simpson and Dr Kathy Brown will also be shown. The Rope and the Cross will be shown in tribute to Easton Lee who passed on earlier this year. He was the muse of the work choreographed by Sheila Barnett,” noted Marlon Simms, artistic director of the NDTC.

In a 2011 interview with the Jamaica Observer, Lee shared the genesis of his play The Rope and the Cross, which started as a narrative and became the inspiration for a ballet of the same name choreographed by Barnett for the NDTC.

“When I was about 12 I overheard a conversation between my mother and Aunt Rose who sold bammies on our shop piazza in Siloah, St Elizabeth. They were talking of the joys and burdens of motherhood, and my mom said she knew how the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus, must have felt to see him so brutally killed. Aunt Rose’s response was, ‘But all of us forget that Judas did have a mother, too’.” said Lee.

He further noted that he shared a rough draft of the original poem with Barnett in 1974 and was later invited to a preview of the ballet she had created with fellow founding member of the NDTC, Monica McGowan. The duet has remained a part of the company’s repertoire ever since and has seen various dancers form the cast including Patsy Ricketts, Melanie Graham, Tamara Noel and Keita-Marie Chamberlain Clarke.

Simms also noted that this year’s event will see moments of reflection from two surviving stalwarts, Musical Director Emerita Marjorie Whylie and tenor Carl Bliss, who were in the room when the idea was birthed by past Artistic Director Professor Rex Nettleford.

“It’s a walk down memory lane but albeit a celebration of a special event that has blessed the hearts of many for decades. In this time acts of worship, reflection and prayer are so important in giving persons the strength to face these difficult times. We hope that the presentation will inspire joy, hope and faith and sustain the belief that we will be on the other side of this pandemic soon.The presentation will be available on the company’s new YouTube channel on Easter Sunday morning from 6 am, which is the usual time of the morning’s presentation,” Simms told the Observer.