The Jamaica Observer’s Entertainment Desk continues with the third of its biweekly feature looking at seminal moments that have helped shape Jamaica over the past 60 years.

IN 1962, co-founders of the National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica (NDTC), Rex Nettleford and Eddy Thomas, were inspired to form the group as a means of creating a cultural institution for the newly independent Jamaica. Today, when the current crop of NDTC dancers rehearse at their studios inside the Little Theatre Complex in St Andrew, they are under the persistent gaze of the founding members of the company. This gaze is made all the more intense by a series of portraits of the members who breathed life into the company 60 years ago.

Among these founding members was Bridget Spaulding.

The then Bridget Casserly and her sister Maureen — also a founding member of the NDTC — began their dancing career early, studying with legendary ballet tutor Madam May Soohi. She recalled a meeting with Nettleford who shared his dream for the company.

“I was working at UWI [The University of the West Indies] and I was walking across campus one day and saw him. We chatted and he told me he was planning to form a company with Eddy Thomas and asked was I interested. Of course I was! Having studied ballet all my life, this was an opportunity to be exposed to more. He subsequently gave me a letter to give to Eddy which said: ‘Here’s a body for you.’ And with that, my journey with the NDTC began,” she told the Jamaica Observer.

The early classes with Nettleford and Thomas saw a mix of dancers from different dance backgrounds and styles, including those trained by Ivy Baxter, Fay Simpson, and Doris Rumsey. However, Spaulding noted that what was made clear from the onset, particularly by Nettleford, was the need to create a quintessential Jamaican and Caribbean dance aesthetic.

“We had to find a niche. And if you knew Rex, he was a Caribbean man, so that Jamaican and Caribbean presence was always important to him. That was evident in some of the standout pieces. Works like Pocomania and Kumina were very important. He took it serious and the dancers were required to go on field trips to a poco yard and a kumina set-up so we could see these rituals in their authentic state. Even though what we were doing was taking a kernel of what was being done and create something for the stage that was entertaining, we had to go through the process,” said Spaulding.

She readily admits that she struggled with the dance works rooted in the traditional Jamaican folk forms, but nevertheless enjoyed participating. Her years with the NDTC has left her with favourites. As a performer, Spaulding has fond memories of Games of Arms and Tribute to Cliff, Nettleford’s work dedicated to and featuring the music of reggae veteran Jimmy Cliff. These pieces, she noted, sat comfortably in relation to her skills.

It has been 60 years since her body was admitted into the company and Spaulding, whose association with the NDTC has continued off the stage, has nothing but high praises for the work that has been done to keep the company alive.

“There will never be another Rex Nettleford, let us just put that out there and move on. But those who have taken up the mantle of the company since his passing have done and are doing a great job. The truth is, the NDTC could have died. So many have come after and fallen by the wayside but the truth is, too much sweat has been put into this company to allow it to die — and I am pleased with where it is heading,” Spaulding told the Jamaica Observer.

Of the 15 dancers who started the NDTC with Thomas and Nettleford only four are still alive: Spaulding, Barbara Requa, Gertrude Sherwood and Rosalie Markes. Those who have passed are Bert Rose, Shirley Campbell, Mavis Stoppi, Sheila Barnett, Yvonne daCosta, Ronan Critchlow, Maureen Casserly, Audley Butler, Joyce Campbell, Pansy Hassan, and Monica McGowan.

Thomas died on April 10, 2014 while Nettleford predeceased him on February 2, 2010.