CDT Arts Limited, Jamaica’s newest dance organisation, will host its first annual summer intensive, a face-to-face three-week programme from August 9 to 27.

The intensive, dubbed CODA — Celebrate Outstanding Dance Artists — will see classes in modern dance, Afro-dancehall, and ballet being offered in the mornings for juniors, ages 8 to 14, along with activities exposing them to dance composition, dance film, and stretching techniques. Advanced and professional dancers, aged 14 and older, will take modern dance technique classes in the evenings with the international guests. New York City-based professional dancers Lloyd A Boyd III and Khalia Campbell, both of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, will join Steven Cornwall and Jamaican professional ballet dancer Keenan Fletcher as tutors.

CDT Arts is a legacy organisation established to honour Tony Wilson, renowned Jamaican dancer, teacher and choreographer and founder of The Company Dance Theatre and Tony Wilson School of Modern Dance, who continues to recover from a severe stroke.

Wilson has trained hundreds of dancers in modern dance for over three decades through his school and company and now, four of his alumni have come together to head the organisation founded to preserve his style, continue his work, and honour him.

This new organisation is being headed by Artistic Director Dr Sade Bully, who following her medical studies at The University of the West Indies, Mona campus, followed her passion for dance and performed with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Garth Fagan Dance, and danced her way around the world to critical acclaim.

Bully will be assisted by associate artistic directors Renée McDonald and Steven Cornwall and Executive Director Colin Blackwood.

McDonald spent years as a principal dancer, soloist, and rehearsal mistress for The Company Dance Theatre. Since beginning her journey with choreography in 2008, McDonald has become an in-demand, award-winning, and highly acclaimed choreographer who balances her dance career with her work as an attorney-at-law in Jamaica.

Cornwall is also a dancer and soloist with The Company Dance Theatre. He has also performed locally with the Ashe Performing Arts Company, as well as internationally with Ashani Dances (USA), the Boston Liturgical Dance Company (USA), and CoDanco (Suriname).

Blackwood has been an instrumental right-hand man for Wilson for years, supporting in the planning and execution of seasons of dance, international tours, and summer intensives. Blackwood is an attorney-at-law in Miami, Florida, who is a passionate contributor to and supporter of the arts. In addition to The Company Dance Theatre, Blackwood was a principal dancer with Brazarte Dance Company (Miami), performed in works by Roberto Dias and Norma Fabiola, and was featured as a guest artist for Impulsik (Miami).