Dance is now in full bloom. As we drink in the nectar, we need a fresh look at the role that Caribbean dancers and choreographers, played in creating this fertile ground - its roots and routes.
In the 1950’s and 60’s, the impetus for the emerging Independent Dance Sector came from several pioneering dancers. The Caribbean impetus was led by Boscoe Holder, Barry Johnson, Nina Baden-Semper, Corinne Skinner Carter, Carmen Munroe, Evrol Puckerin, Allister Bain, Sheila Holder [nee Clark] to name a few. These performers took their unique dance forms into working men’s clubs, universities, churches, community centres, the Mayfair Hotel, Café des Artistes, television, Royal Festival Hall, to name a few. They worked with other artists including, Maurice Bejart, Stuart Hopps and Daryl F. Zanuck. They also danced in films, from Cleopatra to Live and Let Die, and on TV in Cool for Cats to Chelsea at Nine. They toured Europe. They represented the UK at the first Black World Festival in Dakar, Senegal. They danced for royalty while they slept on floors to infuse new audiences with new dance.
Daily we were being defined by others. Through our choreography and dance we defined ourselves. –C. Munroe-
These performers went on to become successful actors, as there wasn’t a living wage in Independent dance, in those days. Dance: Invisible History begins the journey to make visible, the invisible; to uncover this vital nugget which has led to the evolution of dance as we know it today. Dance: Invisible History will take two forms: • Documenting and archiving the artists’ journeys (the roots) • Conversation and discourses with artists and audience (the routes)
The work will draw on the imagination, passion and vitality of both young and senior artists. ‘Ah! Hard Rain’ will have a razor sharp, evolving, contemporary edge and be intensely relevant and engaging for a 21st century audience.
Ah! Hard Rain will be strong on content as well as visually potent - the style will be a cross fertilisation between physical theatre and the grandeur of ballet: both natural and surreal. Underpinning the work will be two commissioned pieces - a poem and an original score. The work will both pay homage to, and draw on, the iconography of specific artists including: • JOSEPHINE BAKER as the Bird on the Swing - the migrant flying high with aspiration, like a damsel fly. • JUDITH JAMISON with The Umbrella in Alvin Ailey’s Revelation - the migrant taking to the ocean in a small boat. • GEOFFREY HOLDER as the Skeleton in top hat and tails in Live and Let Die - the death of many who die on the ocean. • Keith Hodiak (Ballet Rambert), Cathy Lewis (LSCD), Emlyn Claid (X6/Extemporary), Christian Holder (Joffrey Ballet) and Paul Henry (MAAS Mover) - local blooms who struggled for recognition and acceptance. Physical theatre: length 60 minutes
During the R&D I explored basic waste, [newspaper, plastic bags] the orange I used as a metaphor for the World and how we use it and easily discard its resources.
Not unlike the damsel fly, the economic migrant has to take enormous risks, for the survival of the family; the damsel fly has to dive into the river, the economic migrant journeys on the Ocean in a small boat.
Phase 1 : Research and development made possible with support from:
& SunMicrosystems Phase 2 : Identifying partners and venues for the project Special thanks for ongoing support to High Commission for the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, London For further information contact: Greta Mendez Creative Director
(m) 07949 747 472, (e) tmendez80@gmail.com www.gmendez-owd.co.uk
Design by Lawson C. Lovell