THE NATIONAL DANCE Theatre Company of Jamaica (NDTC) will not die with Rex Nettleford, pledged dance stakeholders on Tuesday at a concert dubbed ‘Celebration of His Honour’.

The concert, which occurred on the day of Nettleford’s funeral, indicated the group’s resolve to continue the company. Nettleford would oppose the disbanding of the company, stated Bridget Spaulding, NDTC founding member, in her tribute in-between dances at the Little Theatre in Kingston.

Half a century ago, Spaulding and Nettleford then students met at the University of West Indies and formed the NDTC, she recalled about the company currently planning its 47th season.

“There is the haunting question can the NDTC survive without Rex,” she said of the man who was its co-founder and also artistic director. “Rex would have been a failure without having a continuation plan.”

Legacy planning involved incentivising dancers to remain with the company via non-monetary rewards such as pride and access to international productions.

“The last two weeks in the company (were difficult), but renewal and continuity are words constantly repeated by the dancers,” stated Jeff Cobham, NDTC chairman in his tribute. “This group of young people are an extraordinary bunch determined that the lessons of the life taught by Prof (Nettleford)…will not be extinguished.”

Dancer Kerry-Ann Henry added in her tribute,”Some say prof had no children but we are his children…we are the product of his legacy…the educated artist, she said. “It is said that the king must die but we say the king lives on.”

The statement was an allusion to one of the most famous dance-works presented by the NDTC as part of its 10th anniversary programme.

Nettleford, born February 3, 1933 and died February 2, 2010, was also vice-chancellor emeritus at the University of the West Indies, and lauded by various groups of Jamaicans, including early Rastafarians, who credited him for giving certitude to the movement which was persecuted in the 60s.