By Walter Rutledge
Jamel Gaines Creative Outlet (JGCO) presented their New York City season February 13 thru 15 at Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Bam Fisher Fishman Space. The seventy minute audience friendly one act was more than a celebration of Black History Month; it is also a fitting tribute to the dance theatre genre. The season offered a blend of spoken word, live drumming, recorded music and voiceovers, theater, ritual, art, photography, video projections and of course the primary medium dance.
The festivities began with the JDCO’s Percussion Ensemble, consisting of five drummers and a bass guitar, performing a West African overture. Followed by the first of many narrations by Groat Talu Green. Accompanied by the soft rhythmic sounds of a solo drum the duet of oration and percussion produced a strong and powerful cadence.
A second Groat Gha’ il Rhodes Benjamin appears and greets us while offering the first call and response of the performance. She consecrates the space with a libation honoring the ancestors and living heroes who paved the way. As each name was called their image appeared on the cyclorama. In a clever twist Benjamin began calling the names of the Creative Outlet Dance Company founding members to the audience’s enthusiastic approval. This sense of camaraderie and community was one of the prevailing themes throughout the performance.
A free and vibrant Africa was depicted by the youth in JGCO’s Cultural Arts Program with accompaniment by the Percussion Ensemble. At first this scene with the stage full of melanin cherubs abounding with youthful exuberance captured the audience. Then we suddenly realized that these young people were the desired age of the enslaved Africans.
The horrors of the Middle Passage were effectively captured in a montage of drawing by Tom Feelings. The dancers slowly crossed in a single line upstage underneath the images creating a simple yet haunting statement. Throughout the work Gaines used choreographic and directorial restraint opting to present a balanced work with an emphasis on focused storytelling.
Artists usually have multiple talents, and Thera Ward got the opportunity to flex her triple threat creative muscles and more. Ward performed as a singer, dancer, thespian and playwright of one of the powerful monologues. An eleven-year veteran of Dance Theatre of Harlem, Ward got to break the fourth wall of the mute mover in noteworthy fashion. Tall and statuesque Ward had no problem commanding the stage in They Took Away My Drum and in her own composition We Stand on the Shoulders.
Guest choreographer Kevin Iega Jeff offered a new ensemble work entitled Homage. The work highlighted three exceptional female performers Shirley Black Brown Coward, Bahiyah Sayyed and Thera Ward. Presented in two sections, it was augmented into Remembering as an eloquent reinforcing message of unity and community. The first section was the high energy portion of the work. Aided by Tobi Franco’s score the music’s strong rhythmic, percussive/syncopated nature seemed to propel the dancers into an Afrocentric whirling dervish.
The second movement with vocals by Nina Simone was more reverent and ceremonial. Septuagenarian Coward demonstrated why she is a living testament to the power of artistry and directed nuanced movement- even her eyelashes danced.
This dancing triumvirate of Coward, Sayyed and Ward lead the youthful ensemble with style and grace. Jeff provided a teachable moment for the company through these three artists’ strong theatrical presence and articulate interpretation of the choreography. Jeff’s masterful choreographic offering and casting choices elevated the level of artistry for the entire company.
One of the most poignant moments dealt with the senseless murder of four young girls during the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Amina Konate’, Toni Owens, Lia Lewis and Raquelle Koonkoon portrayed the four young martyrs Denise McNair (11), Addie Mae Collins (14), Carole Robertson (14) and Cynthia Wesley (14). Again, Groat Benjamin delivered a brilliant soliloquy, which had the required pathos to help the audience comprehend to gravity of this atrocity.
Ironically set to Luther Vandross’ rendition of Impossible Dream. The music immediately, but regrettably conjured Langston Hughes’ poem A Dream Deferred. Unfortunately, this tale of four innocent young souls is about unrealized dreams and lives deferred by hate.
Ryan Racine an alumni/returning company member performed a solo honoring the hundredth anniversary of Malcolm X’s birth. Set to a speech by Malcolm X Racine captured the raw essence and angst of the defiant message (certainly a prevalent battle cry in this present era of renewed “American whiteness greatness”.)
The evening crescendo was captured in the full cast finale/bow set to Bebe Winan’s Thank You. Showman Gaines excelled here leaving the audience on a theatrical high note. Remembering is more than a well-crafted Black History Month program; it is an American statement that resounds 365 days a year.
