School of Music: Crucible and Social Vessel Dr. Nicholeen DeGrasse-Johnson discusses
Dance in the Primary Level Curriculum
Is Dance Training Important?
Barbara Requa and Barry Moncrieffe reflect Meet the artists of
PAINT JAMAICA
INSIDE Features
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“A Shift in Paradigm�
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School of Music - Crucible Social and Vessel How Important is Formal Training in Dance?
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Spotlight on Petrona Morrison
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Art as Altruism: Meet the artists of Paint Jamaica
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Eugene Williams: Poised at the Crossroads
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Remembering Rhone & Scott
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ON THE COVER
Raging Fyah, Reggae sensation
and past student band, (L to R) Anthony Watson, Courtland White, Kumar Bent, Delroy Hamilton and Demar Gayle
Edna Manley College of the Visual & Performing Arts Sustaining and transforming the creative industries through scholarship
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Taking Folk Music Abroad The Importance of Vision to Kreativity
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SVA Final Year Exhibition 2014
CREDITS
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Editor in Chief Coleen Douglas Contributing Writers Nichola Cunningham Nicholeen DeGrasse-Johnson, Ph.D Michael Edwards Carol “Annie” Hamilton Elton Johnson Veerle Poupeye Karel Smith Joan Webley Chief Design/Layout Simone Llewellyn Photography Chief Photographers: Mark Samuels and Jason Thomas Contributing Photographer: Donnette Zacca Additional Photography: courtesy of Berklee College of Music, NDTC and EMCVPA Archives
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Advertising: Karel Smith Web / Social Media Marketing & Public Relations Department Editorial Queries: info@emc.edu.jm Online Subscription: issuu.com/collagemag
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Printing: Pear Tree Press
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From the Editor The EMCVPA remains committed to offering opportunities for everyone to realize their full potential through the visual and performing arts. The arts are essential to the proper functioning of any society and have repeatedly demonstrated their ability to heal, inspire and aid in the development of societies. I am pleased to [re]present the Collage Magazine – our stories after a four year hiatus. The Collage is our tribute to the arts and our gift to you and we hope that you will be empowered to unleash your creative spark after reading about the inspiring artists/es in the pages ahead. We welcome your own creative story or inspiring artistic journey for our 2015/2016 issue. BE. CREATE. INSPIRE Yours truly,
Coleen Douglas Marketing and Public Relations Manager
“A Shift in Paradigm”
Nicholeen DeGrasse-Johnson, Ph.D. Principal, EMCVPA
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narguably, the arts are a vehicle of social, cultural, educational and economic transformation. The point at which many may disagree however, is the importance and the priority that needs to be placed on the arts, particularly in Jamaica, where there are so many other critical areas fighting for prominence on the nation’s agenda. The Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts (EMCVPA) is a symbol of the strength of character, the passion, the life and lives that are embodied in the arts, and I daresay, Caribbean peoples. From the earliest establishment of the School of Visual Arts in 1950 by the Hon. Edna Manley, the founding of the Cultural Training Centre (CTC) in 1976, to its reincarnation under the Ministry of Education in 1995, the EMCVPA, has endured through economic, social, political and educational reforms to still provide for Jamaica and the region as the only tertiary arts institution of its kind in the Anglophone Caribbean. But what is the relevance of this arts institution to the national agenda?
The Vision 2030 Jamaica National Development Plan (2009) has been described as Jamaica’s strategic “road map” to direct the pathway and develop Jamaica’s status by the year 2030. The mantra describes: “Jamaica, the place of choice to live, work, raise families, and do business.”1 One of its tenets is that youth should be empowered to contribute meaningfully in building their own communities. Community development depends on individuals who are confident, able to connect to their own feelings, respect others, are able to imagine and create new images from this consciousness, and who solve problems in innovative ways. It is important, therefore, to expose our youth to creative means of transformative education and to include the arts in education for purposes of social and economic advancement. But how do we move a nation from vision to reality? How can Jamaican youth be afforded the opportunity to utilize the arts that is so much a part of their lives in a more effective way that will prepare them to contribute to the national vision? A paradigmatic shift in our thinking and provision for the arts, the arts in education and the EMCVPA is required. 1 Vision 2030 Jamaica National Development Plan, Planning Institute of Jamaica, Pear Tree Press, Kingston, Jamaica, 2009, p. VI.
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SCHOOL OF MUSIC Crucible and Social Vessel by Michael Edwards
Raging Fyah (L to R): Anthony Watson, Delroy Hamilton, Kumar Bent, Courtland White and Demar Gayle
School, any school, is arguably the original (and even ultimate) social medium. A space where individuals first become groups and where interaction is dynamic and occurs on several levels. Or, as Raging Fyah lead vocalist Kumar puts it, “a living directory.” Indeed, for groups like Raging Fyah, Pentateuch and others, the School of Music a EMCVPA is incubator, social medium and much more. In the confines of Room 13 in particular - “the A-Game Room” as the band members describe it, individual talent is melded into a cohesive group dynamic, but with each person held strictly accountable for their contribution to the whole.
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The payoffs of that commitment to meaningful interaction - formal and informal - are palpable. Raging Fyah has two full-length albums, “Judgement Day” and the recent “Destiny” under its belt, with the musical progression obvious between the two; Pentateuch, having come to wider national attention with the hauntingly resonant single “Blackface” has since released their debut “Genesis”. Both bands have also been logging the miles on tour, touching lives in many locales; for Raging Fyah, the “word and sound power” has taken them even to the unforgiving steppes of the former Soviet Union, touching the Mongolian border where, in addition to jamming to the pulsating rhythms, largely isolated denizens were obsessively curious about
the entertainers’ physical appearance. And it is the School, nestled amid what is itself emerging as a dynamic “mid-town” district of Kingston (with New Kingston, Cross Roads and Liguanea all within fair walking distance) that is the crucible for such achievements, as the band members themselves confirm. The Pentateuch members call it the “mecca for many young Jamaican artistes looking to hone their skills” in their description. The members of Raging Fyah, gathered in the aforementioned Room 13 to shoot scenes for their forthcoming video “Brave”, have a similarly unforced loyalty for their musical/ performing alma mater. “This place set a standard, this is where, between the links with other ones like weself and the guidance from the teachers we get the drive to keep improving,” Kumar says, to a chrous of support from the others. The faculty is collectively a major contributor to that dedication. The likes of Maurice
Gordon, Mikey Fletcher and Ibo Cooper among others bring their own well-travelled musical biographies and itineraries to bear on the younger charges and to that they add energy, intellect and that undefinable yet unmistakable element: integrity. Cooper, whose exploits with Third World and more are widely - if not yet formally documented, and has been on the since 2000, puts it this way. Michael “Mikie” Fletcher, otherwise referred to “Megabass”, a moniker he has earned whilst touring and recording with Shaggy, Shabba, Dean Fraser, Beres Hammond, Maxi Priest and more, that even in age where the future keeps intruding and impressing itself on the present, the immutable values of community (musical and otherwise), commitment to craft and caring are still being imparted and demonstrated - whether in a small space like Room 13 or the vastness of Russia’s Ulan.
Pentateuch (L to R): Andrade “Drade” Bowen, Brady “JahBradez” Robinson, Andrew “Worm” Ayre, Garth “Duckie” Forester and Kevor “Vor” Williams.
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How Important is Formal Training in Dance? Barbara Requa and Barry Moncrieffe Reflect by Michael Edwards
“Everybody can dance, but a nuh everybody a dancer” - Bogle
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Barbara Requa: Founder, School of Dance
he above quote, from the late icon of dancehall, Gerald “Bogle” Levy has that “instant classic” facet about it , not least because of the irony in a self-taught, almost purely extemporaneous dance star stating that a dividing line exists between “dancers” and “those who can dance”. Implicit in any such division, after all, is the notion of training and therein lies another duality, one with which two stalwarts of dance education, Barbara Requa and Barry Moncreiffe are currently wrestling at the School of Dance. The two are contemporaries whose credentials in the development of Jamaican dance hardly need elaboration. Requa was a founder-member of the National Dance Theatre Company (NDTC) and part of the triumvirate (with Sheila Barnett and Bert Rose) that started the Jamaica School of Dance, into which fold Moncreiffe came as dance teacher not long after its 1970 founding.
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A lot has unfolded since those heady days in which, as Requa points out, “the idea and the concept of a national dance school was new and had a lot of excitement and energy around it.” In today’s hyper-pragmatic world, a career in dance seems to many young aspirants like the dim light from a distant supernova and worse, the idea of formal studies in the art form appears even less discernible or appealing, if one is to go by the current student enrolment. Even in the dancehall idiom, dancers have not been convincingly guaranteed a place of permanence, despite the boon offered by music videos, DJ tours and the like. Moncreiffe believes the situation is but one aspect of a larger cultural dynamic, one in which old prejudices misconceptions die hard. ‘The performing arts as a whole has always been viewed by the greater part of the society as some kind of last resort, what people do when they absolutely can’t do anything else.”
Barry Moncrieffe: Lecturer, School of Dance
Requa concurs, even in respect of teaching dance. “Its seen almost totally as a vocation - like nursing. There are people who are approaching it as a job or a means to an end, but for this to really work and for it to benefit people, you have to really love it for its own sake.” But how to lighten or even obliterate that ominous shadow of perception? Both admit it is a formidable challenge but both also agree that more consistent and more informed media coverage of the dance art would be powerful step. Requa also references a television segment that Barnett formerly hosted. “Its a visual medium,” she points out, “and it needs to be carried across to the public in that way.” While neither is opposed to staging shows and workshops by overseas dance practitioners here, Moncreiffe in particular emphasises the need to continually strengthen the indigenous dance offerings and instruction.
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In this regard, the ongoing collaboration between the School of Dance and the Schools of Music and Drama in particular, is heartening to both of the dance educators. Both have their corresponding wish-lists: more space, better facilities and equipment. Included in the latter is a gym, as both emphasize that the rigors of dance training demands a level of physical conditioning comparable (and arguably even superior) to that of world-class athletes. And, of course, both are desirous of seeing increased enrolment. “We just have to keep pushing,” says Requa who has actually completed the manuscript for a dance teachers’ guide book referencing her four decades as a dance educator. Moncreiffe, who has added costume and couture designer to his own storied career as dancer and educator sees a continuum of linked performing and visual arts (including the obvious one: music) being critical in the
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ongoing campaign to overcome those long-held societal misconceptions. “We have to continue to take what is good in our culture and encourage those expressions; you don’t want to be going into a foreign space and offering them exactly what they have already.” So, it comes down to working within dualities: calmly (or sometimes not) altering the steps without confounding the innate sense of rhythm; expressing what is innately and demonstrably Jamaican without losing the connection to the global space; of melding talent with skill, and aesthetics with intellect.
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Spotlight on:
Petrona Morrison A Goliath of Contemporary Jamaican
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by Veerle Poupeye
etrona Morrison was born in Manchester, Jamaica in 1954. She received her initial art training in Canada, at McMaster University, where she graduated in 1976. She left Jamaica again in the mid 1980s for MFA studies at Howard University, which involved a year in Kenya, and subsequently lived between Jamaica and the USA, where she was artist-in-residence at the Studio Museum in Harlem from 1994 to 1995. She returned to Jamaica in 1995 but travels regularly for exhibitions, such as the Havana biennale in 1997, and short-term residencies, such as at Contemporary Caribbean Arts in Trinidad (2002) and the Bag Factory in Johannesburg (2005). Morrison’s residencies in Kenya, Harlem and South Africa have significantly influenced her artistic development. Her earliest works were fairly conventional figurative paintings and
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drawings with autobiographical overtones but her art took a different course in the late 1980s when she started producing textural reliefs and assemblages that incorporated discarded materials. These reflected her interest in traditional African art forms, such as Dogon architecture and the carved doors of Mombasa, but invoked these sources poetically rather than literally, as symbolic acts of reconstruction and reconnection. One example is Sentinel (1992), a 12 foot totemic structure made from scrap wood and metal and topped by a horned form that reminds of the Chi Wara headdresses of the Bambara. Her early assemblages signified, in her words, “transformation, renewal and healing,� on a personal and broader social level, and these have remained central themes.
Morrison’s residency at the Studio Museum resulted in larger, more three-dimensional constructions that incorporated urban debris such as wood beams and metal fragments from nearby derelict buildings. These recuperation materials were turned into altar-like structures that evoke the frailty of the body and the restorative power of the spirit in the face of material transience. These ritualistic works also mark a turn towards a spirituality related to African-derived New World religions rather than their African sources.
Petrona Morrison - Sentinel (1992), collection: National Gallery of Jamaica
By the late 1990s, Morrison’s interest in articulating ritual spaces resulted in room-sized installations that were at first constructed from the recuperation materials she had used in her earlier assemblages but gradually shifted to other, less materially dense media such as medical x-rays, placed in front of light boxes, and other ready-made images, often combined with a few evocative found or constructed objects. Her work also became more concerned with the here and now, referring to events in her own life and the social tensions in Jamaican society. This new direction culminated in the room-sized installation Reality/Representation (2004) which was created for Curator’s Eye I, a major exhibition at the NGJ guest-curated by Lowery Stokes-Sims, in what was perhaps her most moving work to date, autobiographical issues that had been implied in her previous work again took center stage. She explicitly confronted her medical history, a congenital condition which has resulted in her short stature. The installation consisted of a fully black room, illuminated by light boxes covered with x-rays of body sizes that could have been her own, combined with new photographs of herself taken from unusually high or low vantage points as well as pre-existing family photographs, anthropometric images, and aerial photographs and maps. These images were organized in broad horizontal and vertical bands, and juxtaposed with two simple pieces of furniture, one short and one very tall white chair – ghostly skeletal presences in narrow alcoves in the black walls.
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Petrona Morrison - Sanctuary/Space (For Me), 1995
[Morrison’s] early assemblages signified, in her words, “ Transformation, Renewal and Healing” on a personal and broader social level, and these have remained central themes. The low placement of the images and the scale of the furniture challenged viewers’ expectations about what constitutes a “normal” vantage point and size. The central component of the room was a self-image in which Morrison became an exceptionally tall woman by splicing an over life-size photograph of herself with horizontal bands of black. This central image echoed the totemic formats of her earlier assemblages and installations, thus confirming the continuity of her thematic concerns, despite the change in media and symbolic vehicles. Since then, Petrona Morrison’s work has become even more dematerialized and conceptual and she now mainly works with cheaply printed digital photographs that are wall-mounted in simple horizontal and vertical grid formations. The documentary tendencies in her work have become more pronounced, as in her
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South African Diary (2005), which documented her experience, as a black Jamaican, of the racial, social and cultural tensions of the post-Apartheid era. Her shift towards digital images and, most recently, video can be part attributed to practical considerations, such as her desire to produce work that is less expensive and physically challenging and more portable. The new economy of means and the ephemeral, site-specific nature of her recent installations fundamentally defy conventional notions of the art object and its material value. By including unedited photographs that were made by others, she also challenges the question of authorship, which is an important aspect of how artistic value is conventionally construed. Her refusal to produce cultural commodities amounts
to an implied critical intervention into the increasingly conservative, maket -driven context of Jamaican art. Morrison has taught at the EMCVPA since the early 1990s and has pioneered the teaching of installation art there. Her influence on recent fine arts graduates is noticeable, both in the work itself and the self-reflexivity they bring to their artistic practice. In 2005, she became Director of the EMCVPA’s School of Visual Arts and her views about art play an important role in how its programmes are developed. In particular, she has helped to preserve space for experimental, a-commercial approaches, at a moment when developments in the local art world pressure artists to conform to market demands.
Petrona Morrison - Reality/Representation (2014) , detail of installation
*Morrison is currently on pre-retirement leave.
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The Inclusion of Dance Education in the K-12 Formal Curriculum in Jamaica
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by Nicholeen DeGrasse-Johnson, Ph. D.
art of the background of the UNESCO Position Paper for the First World Conference on Arts Education in March 2006 states that Art Education—which aims at passing down cultural and artistic heritage to young people, giving them the means to create their own language, in one of the various art disciplines, and contributing to their personality development on an emotional and cognitive level—has a positive influence on a child’s overall development, including academic and personal. The paper further states that such an education, when it makes use of a child’s creative potential, strengthens the acquisition of knowledge and life skills including creativity, imagination, oral expression, manual ability, concentration, memory and personal interest in others.1 The arts—dance, drama, music and visual arts—contribute to educating the whole person and to development of human community. Our children need experiences in the arts as an indispensable component of their human development; this includes required skills for personal and invariably national consciousness or advancement. The arts are necessary for a complete education that prepares children to participate in the social, cultural and economic advancement of society.
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Dance Education
I believe it is now time to start the national dialogue to remove Dance from under the Physical Education curriculum. It is in doing that we engage pertinent learning outcomes of cognitive-knowledge, affective-feelings, physical and social-relationships. According to a Chinese proverb: I hear and I forget I see and I remember I do and I understand2 Dance is a strong element of the Jamaican artistic, cultural and social expression, therefore, its formal acceptance should be an integral part of curricular activities and ought to be encouraged if we are to fully educate our children to accomplish the Jamaican National Development Plan for 2030.3 For the past three decades, dance educators in Jamaica have developed dance curricula for public educational institutions, but there is still a need to justifying the necessity of dance as part of the general school curriculum and the advantage of its institutionalization as a discrete subject to
School of Dance Lecturer, Sophia McKain, with Summer School students
the wider society. Assuming the objective of our schools is to provide total education, then every child should be given the opportunity to participate in a structured, discrete dance programme. Educators and parents have the right, and even the duty, to ask what dance can contribute in making education better and it is also their right and duty to find the best means necessary to enhance the education process of the child. Dance allows children to appreciate rich and diverse cultures, beliefs, and societies. It involves the “whole child� while developing intuition, sensitivity, reasoning, imagination and dexterity.
Promotion of a National Arts Policy
By making a policy for dance education (the arts in education) there will be a method of determining present and future decisions. Such a policy would address major issues like curriculum revision and teacher education, making dance education an essential part of the early childhood through secondary education core curriculum. A governmental policy on dance education will ensure its place at the education table in the school’s formal curriculum.
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“Exposure from an early age to creative responsibilities engenders in young people a spirit of independence, self-assurance, and a sensibility of excellence.”
Paulson notes, “It is easy to lose sight of the most fundamental issue at hand—that students need opportunities to develop all of their intelligences, including the kinaesthetic, in order to be able to think and communicate in traditional systems and in artistic symbols.”4 Our teachers’ college and university education programmes should to prepare our teachers through kinaesthetic learning utilizing dance as a subject giving them a broad view of its creative process as core. Dance is important to the future of our children. Let us own the dance for them and make the whole. Nettleford says it well when he writes, “Exposure from an early age to creative responsibilities engenders in young people a spirit of independence, self-assurance, and a sensibility of excellence.” 5 National development depends on individuals who are confident, able to connect to their own feelings, respect others, are able to imagine and create new images from this consciousness, and who solve problems in innovative ways. It is important, therefore, to expose our children to creative means of transformative education and to include the arts in education for purposes of social and economic development. An arts policy is a necessary and reasonable next step to secure the place of the arts, specifically dance, in schools.
1 http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/files/40341/12650399675UNESCO_Position_Paper.pdf/UNESCO%2BPosition%2BPaper.pdf 2
Proverb from an unknown source.
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Vision 2030 Jamaica: National Development Plan is produced by the Planning Institute of Jamaica in 2009 and outlines the vision for the development of Jamaica over twenty-year period between 2010-2030.
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Paulson, Pamela. “New Work in Dance Education.” Arts Education Policy Review. 95.1 (1993): 30-35. Print.
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Nettleford, Rex. Dance Jamaica: Cultural Definition and Artistic Discovery: The National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica 1962-1983. New York: Grove Press Inc., 1995. Print.
Photo Credit: Novia Prince
Faculty and students in the Dance Education Programme.
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Art as Altruism: Meet the artists of
Paint Jamaica by Karel Smith and Elton Johnson
Beyond the enclaves of development in Downtown Kingston exists a state of dilapidation that has personified the space for years. At the epicentre of all this decrepitude lies the flagship project of Paint Jamaica, described by founder, Marianna Farag, as, “an incredible social & art intervention transforming the visual spaces of Kingston’s inner cities through uplifting street art�. Using art to create serenity, the ever-growing team of young and talented artists has repurposed an abandoned building at
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Photographs by Jason Thomas
41 Fleet Street, turning its walls to canvas and painting away all traces of the chaos and decay. Like some art, the works at 41 Fleet Street are somewhat autobiographical in nature, giving onlookers brief insight into the stories of each Paint Jamaica artist. These stories range from unique experiences to personal life influences, included to give an unabashed portrayal the artist, for to understand the artist is to understand the art.
Jackson Pollock and his idea of surrendering to chaos and letting your art direct you is most relatable to me as an artist. An artwork is never finished, but there is a point where you look up and you are at peace with imperfection.
I have always been a visual person but it’s when I got my first camera from my grandmother my journey started. The artist’s purpose in society is to document while providing us varied perspectives on life’s’ mundane affairs and seeking to create new.
Rebecca Levy
Gianni James
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Artist: Matthew McCarthy, EMCVPA past student
The artist is like a good therapist, the one who captures our deepest emotions, desires, fears and provokes us to face them and transcend them. I identify most with art that captures raw emotions, with rough and exposed layers of paint, organic line work mixed with aspects of the human condition.
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Rebecca Levy
K I N G S T O N
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Women and girls played a large role in my murals at 41 Fleet Street. I wanted them to start seeing themselves differently. It inspires them to embrace their natural beauty and to see themselves as protagonists in their own story. Women are told they must change their appearance in order to be “good enough�. That needs to change. Kokab Zohoori-Dossa, EMCVPA student
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As an illustrator, I identify with many different forms of art, mostly animation, illustrative and contemporary art alongside street art. People tend to identify with the innate symbolism and femininity of my works. I’ve even had little girls come up to me and say my murals are pretty and that they see themselves in them. Kokab Zohoori-Dossa, EMCVPA student
When it feels right, your artwork is as close to finished as it can possibly be, but design never ends, it morphs with the needs of each project. There are quite a few artists in my family and I believe that was my influence to follow suit, that and having a natural talent to be creative and to create. Esther Beckford (Left)
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Artist: Djet Layne, EMCVPA student
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Artist: Taj Francis, EMCVPA past student
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Artists: Patsha McLean, EMCVPA past student, and Jordanne Brady
The message of Paint Jamaica is what attracted me to the project, the dream of trying to make Jamaica a better place and providing new visuals for people within communities so they can aspire beyond what they see every day - that and the artistic environment. Gianni James
I’ve been designing a toolkit for myself to be a better person, I used my artwork to share what I found. Those who can turn their minds into a beautiful garden of colourful thoughts are on the right path to true happiness. Virtuous seeds – integrity, faith, good deeds, patience, wisdom, love, kind words, hope and courage – grow beautiful trees. Esther Beckford
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Artists: Natali Daley, EMCVPA past student, and Charl Baker
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I did a photoshoot with a friend for her birthday and when I delivered the final images, she started crying. She said she was just now seeing the beauty everyone had been telling her about. Gianni James Artist : Kareen Weir, EMCVP past student
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Filling balloons with paint and creating a grand abstract mural in a public space with tons of people helping, that is my dream art project. As an artist, you have to have fun and follow your bliss. Esther Beckford
Artist: Matthew Henry
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D
Eugene Williams Poised at the Crossroads by Michael Edwards
D “Drama is where all the arts meet”
Few individuals are better placed to navigate that intersection than Eugene Williams, who ends his tenure as Director of studies at the School of Drama at the EMCVPA - a post he has held for the past 20 years, and beyond that, a four-decade association with the Institution and, by extension, Jamaican theatre.
Over time, Williams says, he concretized the notion that his mission would involve building on the ideas developed by the likes of Dennis Scott, Tom Cross, Honor Ford-Smith, etc. and so set about establishing a curriculum that sought to marry the drama education needs of the country and the theatre arts development within the wider community.
But when Williams first came to Jamaica from Guyana, it was far from a planned sojourn. He stepped into what he describes as a “larger microcosm” - as there was then palpable diversity in Jamaican theatre offerings. “The ‘Jamaicanization’ that we see now had not yet taken hold” he explains. So the Shakespearean canon and other classics happily bumped shoulder with Caribbean and Jamaican material like the late Trevor Rhone’s “Old Story Time.” Similarly, he explains, the commercial audience had not really been built, and so productions were marked by shorter runs.
Among the objectives was to put Drama teachers in schools, the purpose being dual “to develop not only Caribbean drama and Caribbean teachers of drama and to elicit the rich aesthetic sensibilities; a large part of the mission of this school was using arts as tool for community intervention, coming out of the Rex Nettleford Committee report. We sought to extend that cord and build on the foundation”. Of course, there were challenges. “We had ‘some problems’ with the curriculum initially presented,” Williams explains. “It needed more content, more substance – there was I believed, too much overlap and 28
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Even at the crossroads perhaps especially at the crossroads one’s focus is relentlessly forward.
unnecessary extension…needed more outright progression”. One major issue: we needed to deal with the issue of accreditation of the courses, and one marker on the pathway to greater formalization was the separation of the subjects – Theatre Arts and Drama in Education. Thus, those who sought the more direct career path of a teaching career could do so whilst still having some grounding in the performing/ directing aspect of the discipline. Williams notes that the School “almost collapsed” in late 70s/early 80s, coincident with the downfall of the democratic socialist system of Government, but, fortunately survived and today, in an era when many (if not all) of the once legendary playhouses - Barn, Way Out - have closed their doors, 29
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the School of Drama has retained a substantial level of diversity in its productions, which content he describes as “still experimental”. “Visual arts and music have long been part of the secondary school curriculum - not so drama” he points out. Going back even further, “Jamaican society, for a whole slew of reasons, including long-standing resistance movement (Maroons, Garvey and Rasta, etc.), there is a certain cultural certitude about being Jamaican, which has not been too deeply affected by the largely North American cinema offerings. This phenomenon of going to theatre and seeing oneself – aided and abetted by the music – helped people to reaffirm a Jamaican identity”.
So, what will the individual coming into the College today find? “What such a person coming in will first of all find is a College, as opposed to four schools with a office to, in effect, run the grounds. There is infrastructure, there are policies and there are guidelines and accredited programmes, including degree programmes, but also systematized processes to manage course delivery, where the pedagogy is facilitated and monitored; quality assurance is constantly monitored and boosted, and physical plant better suited to said curriculum”. Still, he would like to see a greater connectedness between the theatre acitivity in the wider community and the school, and aims to use his time post-tenure to work toward building such a movement. Even at the crossroads - perhaps especially at the crossroads - one’s focus is relentlessly forward.
Nowadays, Williams says, his main job is advising students. But what’s kept him here all this time and through so much change? Since age 14, he says, he has found himself seeking “academic renewal” just about every decade. “Before I came to Jamaica, was accepted at at school to study in the UK, but was referred to Jamaica by a friend - I had come to study acting; a Black actor then in the UK would have had very little opportunities. Here – through cultural politics of Caribbean – my mind expanded, and then I shifted from acting to directing, then teaching.” 30
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Remembering Rhone & Scott: A look at Trevor Rhone and Dennis Scott’s Contribution to Theatre by Nichola Cunningham
Trevor Rhone
They were two very different men with contrasting styles and personalities but at their core was a shared passion to awaken our people to the realities of what it meant and felt like to be black, be proud and to be Jamaican. Their methodology in the establishment and growth of Jamaican theatre is unquestioned, yet their contribution remains largely unheralded as only a few Jamaicans readily recognise a Trevor Rhone play or lines from one of Dennis Scott’s poems. At the height of their careers, both men forged ahead, pursuant to making students, actors and audiences alike understand that theatre is a craft to not only be nurtured and developed, but respected for its role in telling the stories of those who came before us; in giving a tongue to the voiceless and, most importantly, in preserving our culture. Indeed, there will never be another quite like Trevor Rhone, the man with the commanding voice as smooth as fine rum and as sweet and rich as honey. This son of Bellas Gates, St. Catherine is arguably Jamaica’s and indeed the Caribbean’s most celebrated dramatist. Co-author of the screenplay ‘The Harder They Come’, he
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continually spotlighted several of our island’s societal ills and prejudices based on our history of slavery and post colonial existence. In the era of ‘if you’re black stay back’, Rhone opens up our consciousness to the everyday biases we not only encounter but unconsciously pass on to subsequent generations. Best known for plays such as ‘Old Story Time’ and ‘Smile Orange’ both of which have now come to be regarded as classics of West Indian literature taught in our high schools, Rhone’s work strikes a poignant cord in those who have experienced the stigma of being seen as possessing the wrong kind of skin colour and the wrong type of hair. To say he was the consummate story teller would be a serious understatement, as he not only told stories, he told OUR stories in a manner that resonated long after the curtains closed or the last page was read. The dialogue is written in everyday language for the average citizen to understand yet interwoven throughout, is the symbolism of the words that makes the stories so worth telling.
“When you learn, teach; at our core we are all teachers.” - Maya Angelou
Scene from School of Drama’s mounting of Dennis Scott’s ‘An Echo in the Bone’
Dennis Scott
Always proud of his humble rural roots, where farming was a way of life for young and old alike, he often spoke lovingly of how his formative years with the soil that built both character and tenacity. Many of his beloved protagonists were simple, humble individuals who have been challenged to better themselves without losing touch with their identity. In other words many of his characters, like many people in today’s society, have struggled with balancing ambition with humility. Few know that at one point Rhone was armed not with a script but plain old chalk as he was a school teacher, fewer would know that he came from a very large family (his father is reported to have sired all of 23 children from two marriages, Trevor being the last child was regarded as the ‘wash belly’). That sense of family also resonated in many of his scripts. And his scripts were many and masterful. While ‘The Harder They Come’, ‘Old Story Time’ and ‘Smile Orange’ are much revered, (two of which became movies), he also penned such prolific literary works as ‘Two Can Play’, ‘Bellas Gate Boy’ and the films ‘Milk and Honey’ and ‘One Love’ starring Cherine Anderson and Ky-Mani Marley (son of Bob Marley). Indeed actors and actresses today are eager to sink their teeth into a Trevor Rhone play, as any thespian worth their salt can adequately show off their acting depth doing one of his plays as his characters are complex and layered, allowing those who portray them to stretch themselves accordingly.
Scene from the 1973 movie ‘The Harder They Come’ written by Perry Henzell & Trevor Rhone; starring Jimmy Cliff
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No two plays are ever the same. From hustling in the tourism industry; the political and social upheaval of the late 1970s, to the immigration trial of a mother wanting the greener grass of the North American continent for her child, Rhone’s works explored the highs and the lows experienced by the West Indian family. He expertly explored the many facets of the family; laying bare their flaws yet promoting its ability to rise like a phoenix, despite seemingly impossible obstacles. In his later years, he lectured at the University of the West Indies, as well as several prestigious international institutions, including Harvard University. His body of work spans over forty years as the man was not only a writer, producer, director, lecturer and actor, he was also a co-founder along with Yvonne Jones-Brewster, of both the drama group ‘Theatre 77’ and the Barn Theatre, a converted garage owned by Brewster’s family, which would become an iconic theatre that lasted until the mid 2000s. Sadly, the site is now a parking lot for new cars. Much respected for his dynamic works, Rhone was made a Commander of the Order of Distinction by the Jamaican government. He also received a Genie Award (Canada) for his film “Milk & Honey” and had a recurring role in the ABC series ‘Going to Extremes’. What Rhone was to plays, Dennis Scott was to poetry, (though he too wrote several plays). Like Louise Bennett, Scott embraced the dialect of the masses and this is perfectly immortalised in his famous piece ‘Uncle Time’, which he likens to a charming yet cunning old man who can steal your dreams and youth if you allow him. His expressive use of the vernacular made his pieces vibrant and dynamic. A witty drama teacher, he made learning fun and poetry cool. The early 1970s brought forth ‘Uncle Time’,
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Scott’s first publication, thus beginning his journey into modern Jamaican poetry for which he is now well recognised. Though he died at a youthful 51, his stockpile which spanned some two decades is so powerful and substantial that to this day his poems and plays are recognised as being gifted with having a significant impact on the direction of Caribbean theatre. Born and raised in a middle class family, Scott would go on to be the Head Boy at Jamaica College and later received fellowships to institutions overseas. While his education was solid, later he seemed to struggle with his own middle class upbringing and sought to identify more with the downtrodden and disenfranchised in society. Indeed, the colonial images that were a part of his early life seemed in sharp contrast to what he embraced later on in his life, as he appeared to come to a consciousness that living in a bubble was simply no way to live. This would be reflected in many of his poems. Those who have studied his work, including Anthony McNeil and Professor Mervyn Morris have concluded that the poet/playwright strove to express just how he saw the emerging Jamaican culture post –independence. His work reflected its good and bad and why some yearned for the ‘good old day’ which looking at it now, really was not always that good, wholesome and nurturing for the common man - especially those who were marginalised by society, such as the Rastafarians. For the most part his poems are by no means always easy to decipher and tends to highlight man’s ongoing search for inner peace and stability.
“...the theatre at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts has been named [Dennis Scott Studio Theatre] in his honour” His most noted plays include ‘Terminus’ (1966) and ‘An Echo in the Bone (1974), the latter speaking to the ritualistic ceremony surrounding death and ‘nine-night’. ‘Terminus’ refers to racial oppression going back to slavery. Though he died almost 25 years ago, his work, particularly ‘Marrysong’, is utilised in the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) developed by the University of Cambridge International Examination Board, as the many lessons supply by his literary compositions still resonate until today. ‘Uncle Time’ like the fictitious character Anansi brought over by our African ancestor, is wily and manipulative and will leave you empty handed if you are not paying enough attention. An Associate Professor of Playwriting at the Yale School of Drama and Director of the Jamaica School of Drama, the theatre at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts has been named in his honour. Interestingly, Scott was also an original member of Rex Nettleford’s celebrated National Dance Theatre Company. That would probably account for his very graceful portrayal of Lester Tibedeaux in the 80s smash sitcom ‘The Cosby Show’. His portrayal in that show as a Caribbean in-law to the Cosbys was a source of pride to Jamaican who felt his addition of island flavour enhanced the quality of those episodes!
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Edna Manley College of the Visual & Performing Arts Sustaining and transforming the creative industries through scholarship by Carol “Annie� Hamilton
In recent years much focus has been placed on the need for development and formalization, of the cultural and creative industries. With the current global economic turmoil, there is increasing recognition that a large proportion of the new economy will depend on the creative and cultural industries. However, the success of these industries will largely depend on the extent to which governments, funding and lending agencies are committed to providing support needed that enables
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the unlocking of creative energies and capacity of its people. This support is important for innovation if we truly believe that the creative and cultural industries are the way forward for the development of dynamic and vibrant regions, cities, communities and enterprises. New situations require novel solutions, and creativity and innovation play a critical role in overcoming economic and social challenges.
this discussion is the EMCVPA’s role in arts advocacy and incorporating communities and stakeholders with educational institutions. There is a great need for an institution like EMCVPA to be able to have access to finance and support as it is the key provider of training to meet emerging needs or new career paths and to foster partnerships between the cultural sector and other entities to enhance sustainability.
If we agree that the driving force in the next phase of our economic development is our imaginative and creative capacity then the requisite policies and provisions must be developed to facilitate the development of viable cultural and creative products, increase productivity and maximize growth opportunities. Arts and culture are often viewed only for its entertainment value, to add ‘spice’ to an otherwise dull event with the expectation of it being done for free or as a part-time income-earner, rather than a profession worthy of the associated respect given to traditionally accepted careers. It, therefore, begs the question, how can we improve support for the mobility of artists and cultural professionals in the Anglophone Caribbean? What is required to create an environment in which this sector can survive and strive, to fulfill its potential that would enable it to contribute to sustainable development, growth and wealth creation as well as scholarship? It is important to create dialogue on the relationship of the Arts, culture and economic development, as it is central to the development of creative industries. Central to
I believe that sustainable and strong investment in our culture capital would facilitate economic stability as a region and Jamaica in particular.
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However, this requires a paradigm shift in how we think about and value education in the arts nationally and the realization of the need to increase access to education and training opportunities supported by sound national arts and culture policies.
In keeping with its Mission and Vision, the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts is committed to, and actively involved in facilitating scholarship in the arts and leading the discourse around the importance of the Arts to society and nation building. The college plays an important part in passing on the best of what has been thought about and documented from one generation to the next, while, at the same time, it plays a key role in providing a fertile and nurturing environment within which the imagination and thought processes of ensuing generations develop. The intellectual pursuits of the various disciplines have, at their core, the generation of new ideas and the articulation and reflection of truths. There is also an important place in any society for creatives creating art for art sake that must also be considered for support that enables sustaining of their creative pursuits. We believe that it is appropriate and perhaps necessary that the college is at the core of establishing the cultural imperatives.
This belief manifested in the hosting of an international biennial Rex Nettleford Arts Conference in October. The staging of this activity is intended to provide opportunities to interrogate and develop conversations, to arrive at new understandings and useful ideas that may contribute to the development of sound cultural policies. It also provides a space for the sharing of scholarship and innovations in the arts. It is also hoped that young people who choose to pursue studies in the arts would be given the support and encouragement needed to pursue their career goals and that studies in the arts are recognized as serious and important scholarship worthy of the respect it deserves as we move to the implementation of the creative industries for economic development, sustainability and social transformation in the region and Jamaica in particular.
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Taking Folk Music Abroad
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Michael Sean Harris Reflects on his year in............. by Michael Sean Harris
Sometime in January 2013, I received a notification in my email stating that Berklee College of Music would begin offering a masters degree in Music Technology. It wasn’t just called Music Technology though, it was …wait for it: Music Technology Innovation! Of course, I was absolutely thrilled and the usual nervous questions came to the fore: Am I really ready for this? Am I smart enough for this? What on earth do they mean by ‘Innovation’ and why would they put it in the name and title of the degree? What on earth would I, could I innovate? How would I pay for it? Will I have to speak Spanish? Would I fit in? …and the questions were almost endless. Luckily for me, I had already addressed half of those questions the first time I went to Berklee in Boston in 1996, but this was new, It would be at their new campus in Spain, Europe …southern Europe. I actually love Europe! The decision was made.
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In applying to the College, I had to have a fairly detailed plan of what I hoped to achieve once I got there - not just in my head, but in writing, as that was indeed a requirement for the application. What would be my innovation? I thought about my not-so-secret love for folk music around the world and my quiet campaign to introduce Jamaican folk forms and elements into new music. I had already been experimenting since the first time I went to Berklee. But, was I really doing it, or just playing at doing it? I had to acknowledge the fact that since I had returned home in 2003 from Berklee and touring Europe with an Ice Show singing world music, I had allowed several factors to convince me that the music I love to create had no place in Jamaica, and that even though I kept at it, I was essentially feeling hopeless where the possibilities were concerned. Leaving to go to Spain seemed like the perfect opportunity for a change of perspective…a chance to ‘wheel and come again’.
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One of my majors in my undergraduate study at Berklee, Boston was Music Synthesis which had to do with Music Production, Electronic Music, Programming, Sound Design and more. In my mind, the perfect way to bring traditional Jamaican Folk back with a modern focus was to attempt a fusion of the two. Jamaica has a rich history and deep influence in many styles of electronic music anyway (even if most Jamaicans are unaware of this). So I decided that would be my focus - A fusion on Jamaican Folk and Electronic music. I eventually dubbed this project FOLKBEATS & BLIPSPEAK. So, off I went to Valencia, Spain to study Music Technology Innovation and from the start, my thesis inspired fascination, as most people only knew Reggae and Dancehall as Jamaican Music. Many of my colleagues, however, were very aware of Jamaica’s role in the development of Hip Hop, Dub, Ska, Drum and Bass, Jungle, Dub Step and more - certainly more than it’s acknowledged or celebrated in Jamaica. From my first meeting with my faculty advisor, Stephen Webber (Program Director for the Master in Music Technology Innovation), I realised there was something even more special about the folk music. I had already been toying with a vocal harmoniser and he suggested I create a piece with the folk song ‘Eva’ using the harmoniser (TC Helicon VoiceLive 2). I did this and it seemed to touch an emotional cord with many people. I performed it for MIT’s Emerging Technologies conference held in Valencia, also for the campus visit of the US Ambassador to Spain and when the College gave an Honorary Doctorate to Maestro Placido Domingo, I performed it for him as well.
TEL# 876-926-4687/ 876-960-7712 8 SOUTH AVENUE, KINGSTON 10 musicmartjm.com
In my electronic music production and sound design classes, I was guided by my Lecturer Ben Cantil to create beats and textures and using samples I brought with me, the Olive Lewin Field recordings from the Edna Manley Collection, Noel Dexter and Godfrey Taylor’s Mango Time as well as folk melodies from memory, I began crafting new works based on the folk music. I created new imaginings of ‘Bad Maddanlaw’ and ‘Dis Long Time Gyal’ and ‘Lion’s Lament’ which actually uses four different folk songs and chants. I have actually had the opportunity to perform ‘Lion’s Lament’ in a few different ways. For the first public performance of it, I invited three other vocalists to participate and infuse it with touches from their own cultures (Spain,
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Serbia and the USA). For yet another performance, it was performed with turntables, tablas and samples being triggered from Ableton Live using wireless MIDI controllers. I also used ‘Lion’s Lament to articulate my message as I delivered a TEDx talk entitled, Lionheart: Cultural Currency. The possibilities for creation and expression with our folk forms are as varied as they are endless. I plan to continue exploring these possibilities and I invite anyone else who’s interested to join me. ‘Fe me love will neva done…strong and evalasting, only fe yuh.’
THE IMPORTANCE OF VISION TO KREATIVITY by Joan Webley
Without a doubt, Jamaica’s greatest asset is its people. It is our indomitable spirit, unflagging determination and innate ability to ‘tunwihan’ and mek fashion’ that combine to give this little rock its greatness. The skill and enthusiasm with which we exhibit our musical, culinary, sporting, dramatic and other cultural gifts is infectious and has led to us holding a place of high esteem in the international community. This attention from “foreign” has not gone unnoticed and our competitive advantage in creative industries has now been recognized at a national level. Many of our best minds and quite a few international ones have attempted to outline how Jamaica can translate this “high esteem” into much needed economic returns. Their attempts have resulted in documents such as Vision 2030 and the like; documents which contain recommendations on measures that must be taken towards the development of “Jamaica: the Cultural Super State”. But by and large, in spite of the abundance of creative skill/cultural wealth and the myriad of strategic plans that have been developed proposing viable ways forward, the country continues to struggle with high levels of unemployment, a declining economy and has failed to meaningfully reap the rewards of our creativity. Importantly, progress has been made,
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but where this is the case it is largely due to the efforts of creative talent/products that have independently implemented the recommendations of these reports. This suggests that the issue at hand is not the viability of recommendations on the way forward, but the difference that attitude and commitment to these plans can make. Indeed, the importance of vision as an aspect of successful achievement of goals cannot be underestimated.
WHAT IS KREATIVITY WITHOUT VISION? It is because of the lack of a clear collective vision on the purpose and power of creative and cultural industries that progress has been stymied. Vision is a key source of motivation: it influences not just what we do, but how we do it. Vision gives you faith in your ability to achieve an objective because it is specific; it is the basis of your passion and the life-source of your determination. Without clarity of vision there is a lack of commitment to established goals. There is a lack of motivation and perseverance in the face of obstacles. We will continue to tell our children to pursue “real” careers in law and medicine and admonish them to stop wasting time on music and football aka “idleness”. We are all a part of the change that needs to happen.
Deciding to focus on creative and cultural industries nationally is more than just selecting a new way to get money to fix the country. Deciding to develop creative industries means asking our government and people to pay attention and respect to aspects of ourselves that have long been derided as being of little real value. From slavery through to independence, much of our socialization has held little regard for our indigenous music, language, medicines, and other elements of our culture. It has typically been persons from poorer or rural communities that have excelled in these creative industries. In classist Jamaica, to pursue an economic future based on exploiting creative industries requires a mental and attitudinal shift that cannot take place if we deny the need for it. There is a serious need to dissect the legacies of slavery that continue to stifle our growth: the crab in a barrel mentality; perceived inalienable ties between economic success and corruption; over-valuing imported goods and practices; disliking or doubting the quality of local culture and creations. We must ask ourselves some hard questions and be prepared to work through the answers. Why aren’t we encouraging our nation to value our cultural tradition? We don’t realize the worth of what we have? Why does the rest of the World reap the benefits of Brand Jamaica and we do not? Only when we have clarity of vision, when ALL OF US accept that the wealth of this nation lies in the intellectual, social and moral fibre of our people and that focusing on developing them, allowing and enabling them to pursue their passions will bring a greater contribution to the nation’s GDP, only then will we begin to make the kind of advancements as a nation that have been hoped for since Independence. A lack of vision is a legacy of slavery it is now beyond time for us to emancipate ourselves. We have the skills, talent and technical expertise required to protect and promote these industries into the paradigm shift we desire... now we just have to stop doubting ourselves and start working together to get it done!
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Phillippa Smith - DADDY’S GIRL
Traci Wong - FACETS
SVA FINAL YEAR EXHIBITION 2014
Photographs by Donnette Zacca and Mark Samuels
Necon Bailey - KNE-KONTIN
Kareen Weir - SATIRICAL SKINS
The 2014 SVA Final Year Exhibition comprised a culmination of a year-long process of introspection and reflection. The entire curatorial team agreed that the presentations from students were some of the strongest the College had seen in a while and the exhibition showed consistency in the high calibre of dynamic, ambitious and thoroughly innovative presentations. The 2014 Curatorial Team
Renae Hopkins - MELODIES OF THE MOMENT
Kemile McIntosh - THE KING
Natali Daley - CREED
Ramone Johnson - SYNCHRONICITY
Lowel Royer - DETENTION