The 48th Annual Season of Dance of the National Dance Theatre Company (NDTC) opens at The Little Theatre, Tom Redcam Drive, Kingston tomorrow.

“The company will present five weeks of ‘cultural artistry’ between July 23 and August 22,” says associate director, Barry Moncrieffe, who leads the almost 50-member corps of dancers, singers, musicians and creative technicians. Performances will be on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm and on Sundays at 5 pm.

According to Moncrieffe, this year’s opening night is in tribute to NDTC’s co-founder and late artistic director, Professor Rex Nettleford.

That performance, he reveals, will present works created by Nettleford including Gerrehbenta (1983), a ritualistic work which evokes the ceremonies carried over from Africa, and which live today in several forms among rural Jamaicans who invoke the spirits of ancestors for a variety of purposes. The Company will also perform Spirits at a Gathering (1995), Bujurama (1996), and Misa Criolla (1967), as well as excerpts drawn from Cave’s End (2002) and Islands (1985).

“The active repertoire, which comes into effect after the July 23 opening, can be described as a mix of experimental works and culturally relevant remounts, as well as other celebrated works,” Moncrieffe explains.

Among the new dance works is a full-company folk-piece, Form in Fusion, choreographed by dancer Patrick Earle, to live music arranged by musical director, Marjorie Whylie.

Remounted pieces include Nettleford’s last work, Apocalypse, as well as Phases of the Three Moons (1996) and Folktales (2003) created by veteran choreographer Clive Thompson, a former principal of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre.

The NDTC Singers under the direction of Marjorie Whylie, will present three suites of songs as part of the programmes.

Tickets for the season of dance are available at The Little Theatre Box Office.