VOLUME 3, ISSUE 3: DECEMBER 2015
EDITORIAL the usual activities from lunch hour concerts in the Schools of Dance, Music, Drama and various events staged by Student Services and the School of Arts Management. With Christmas around the corner, I would like to use this opportunity to appeal to all of you to continue supporting the arts and consider giving back to the college through scholarship, mentorship, sponsorship or partnership. It is unbelievable that we have already come to the end of a semester and anticipating a new year! The college has been abuzz with activities with the Rex Nettleford Arts Conference in October, Graduation and
You may contact the principal’s office or the marketing department to discuss how you would like to contribute to the growth of the college and by extension the arts in the Caribbean.
In this issue we share with you some images from graduation, Rex Nettleford Arts Conference and some campus events. We feature new faculty from the school of Drama as well as a peek of our 2016 calendar. Please continue sending us your suggestions and feedback and I encourage you to submit interesting articles and photos of your work/event for inclusion in The Collegiate. One love,
Coleen Douglas Marketing and Public Relations Manager
_______________________________ Submit all editorial material to marketing @emc.edu.jm with “The Collegiate Editorial” in the subject line.
KINGSTON MUSIC WEEK JAMSATIONS
PRINCIPAL’S DESK these attributes to consistently produce graduates that can compete at the highest level in all disciplines of the arts. dditionally, with the growing demand for visual and performing artists in the cultural industry, the College was compelled to react, to bridge and fill this gap by creating more opportunities for training and improving and developing the existing facilities of the campus to enable a sustainable future.
Dear EMCVPA Family and Friends, Recently, the College had the distinct honour of hosting two significant events, the biennial Rex Nettleford Arts Conference in October and the institution’s annual commencement ceremony in November. On reflecting on these two occasions and the national dialogue on the creative and cultural industries, I am concerned with how we view funding towards our first and still the only arts institution and would like to use this forum as my first point of appeal for your financial support. The Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts (EMCVPA), founded on the vision to be a stalwart visual arts, music, drama, dance and arts management education institution in the local and regional sphere, has continued to steadfastly produce artistic talents relevant to creative genres with specific contributions to cultural, artistic, educational, social and economical development. Jamaica’s reputation as the “cultural mecca” of the Caribbean for its cultural dynamism and innate creativity, positioned EMCVPA at the root of shaping and perfecting
“Water the Roots”, a performance art event culmination to the Rex Nettleford Arts Conference, was developed as a self-sustaining internationally recognized fundraising event that would support College projects; establish an Arts Endowment Fund; as well as to strengthen the audience base for the College through exposure of students on a world-class stage alongside local and international acts. “Water the Roots” is symbolic to nurturing the spaces that grows the artistic talent and a medium through which students and graduates can contribute to this institution, which has been a powerful support for Jamaica’s creative industries. As much as this fundraising event and others to be envisioned will be for the enhancement of the College’s resources and product offerings, it lacks EMCVPA “family” and collective support. We as Managers, Directors, Faculty, Staff, Alumni, Students and Stakeholders have a responsibility to the welfare of the, our, EMCVPA. Our vision and mission to excel begins with us, we, therefore have to extend ourselves immeasurably by actively being involved in products that we present to the world, our audience. Our Jamaican athletes’ participation at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing, China 2015 reminded us of the Jamaica “brand”
product we have, that is like a jewel, crafted with fine art and sculpted with the assiduous hands of dedicated icons, who have, against all odds, bolstered this trademark. The hard-work and achievements of our athletes at the IAAF World Championships replenished nation-pride and a desire for unity within all Jamaicans, because at that moment Jamaica was again showcased to the globe as one of the top or leading Caribbean countries in the arena of athletics. Similarly should the EMCVPA be, unrelenting in support to its cause and relevance to the Jamaican landscape. Take this Jamaican pride and replicate an EMCVPA pride, where we all, through collective efforts can achieve the College’s strategic objectives for 2015-2020. I beseech you to be advocates for the EMCVPA “dream” and “Water The Roots”.
Nicholeen DeGrasse-Johnson, PhD Principal
CAMPUS NEWS School of Drama – Ratoon heavily collaborative and communal. We have had readers and listeners and have taken many of their suggestions on board.” The script was done by novelist and social historian Erna Brodber ,who explained that the work focused on the generation of the 1970’s and was dedicated to the youths of the 1970’s, and particularly to those who landed in the Rastafari-
The play season opened at the School of Drama with Ratoon: Envisioning a New Jamaica directed by Lecturer Ms. Carolyn Allen. The play was an adaptation of Erna Brodber’s novel Jane and Lousia will soon come Home. Allen shared that “the process was
an house known as Twelve Tribes of Israel. The word ‘Ratoon’ is derived from a method of harvesting a crop which leaves the roots and lower parts of the plant uncut. The main benefit of ‘ratooning’ is that the crop matures earlier in the season. With the didactic script of monologues and
dialogues, a predominantly female cast along with the expressionistic and dreamlike staging, the 75 minute production was engaging and even featured a discussion with the audience in the middle of the play.
Dashiki Day The School of Arts Management and Humanities celebrated the Dashiki on Thursday November 19 with an intimate fair on the lawns of the Multimedia Building.
Ananse Soundsplash 2015 Festival
On Thursday November19, the college joined the Ananse Soundsplash 2015 Festival with the hosting of its leg of “ANANSE GOES to College” with a storytelling Lunch hour labrish on the Deck. Patrons were engaged with discussions on the use of story-
telling to teach concepts from the Primary and Secondary curriculum as well as a demonstration by students of the School of Drama on how to apply storytelling in the classroom. It was a true fare of stories from Janet Muirhead-Stew-
FINANCIAL FAIR
The students’ services department hosted a financial fair on October 29 to expose students to different financial opportunities to finance their education. Participants included NCB,
JN, JDF Credit Union and a number of student work and travel agencies.
art’s introduction, Amina Blackwood Meeks performance message and main presenter Elizabeth Montoya-Steman who presented a dramatization of a story from afar – Columbia.
Faculty Feature
School of Drama welcomes new faculty
Marvin George
Camille Quamina is a graduate of the University of the West Indies St. Augustine. She holds a BA in English, and has recently completed her MPhil in Cultural Studies. She has received the National Drama Association of Trinidad and Tobago Cacique Award for The Most Outstanding Actress in 2000 and was nominated for the same award in 2006. Since 2000, she has specialised in arts based partic-
Marvin George is a Commonwealth Scholar, who holds a BA (First Class Honours) in Theatre Arts from The University of the West Indies (UWI), and a MA in Theatre & Development Studies from the University of Leeds. He’s served as part-time lecturer on the Theatre Arts and Carnival Studies BA programmes at the UWI, St. Augustine, and is former Artistic Director of Arts-in-Action, a multiple award winning applied creative arts programme domiciled there. He is Artistic Director at Mt. D’or Cultural Performers, and Jouvay Ayiti, and
board member at Arts-in-Action and Caribbean Yard Campus, his involvements in which triangulate the key areas of his PhD research: traditional masquerade; theatre/performance making; and popular education and development. Mr. George teaches Caribbean Culture and Performance, Culture and Community Development and Theatre and Development, Western Theatre History as well as Independent Study.
ipatory strategies for young people and the community with the Applied Arts Company, Arts-in-Action, and has toured internationally as an actor, dancer, vocalist and theatre director. Her research focus has been on articulating culturally specific methods for the Caribbean actor. She teaches Acting, Foundations of Dramatic Literature and Independent Study
Camille Quamina
Dorraine Reid is an alumna of the School of Drama and holds a diploma in Drama in Education, a B.Sc in Education Administration and an M.Sc in Public Sector Management. She has been teaching Drama at the High School level and joins the team as a teacher in Drama in Education, Teaching Practice Seminar and CSEC Theatre Arts.
Dorraine Reid
GRADUATION CEREMONY 2015 It was celebratory, reflective, and sombre in some instances but Graduation 2015 was certainly a spectacular production and a fitting farewell for the class of 2015. We share the moments in pictures.
GUEST SPEAKER EBONY G PATTERSON
Graduation production “FUTURE”
VALEDICTORIAN ADDRESS: CHRISTOPHER WILLIAMS
GRADUATING CLASS 2015
WELCOME: SHAMAR BRUCE
School of Visual Arts Mario Jame’s mother recieving posthumous award
School of Visual Arts Howard Myre
School of Visual Arts Makeida Beckford recieving her award for most promising fashion designer
School of Visual Arts Jerome Marshall
GRADUATION PRODUCTION 2015
Rex Nettleford Arts Conference The Rex Nettleford Arts conference was a potpourri of soul stirring performances, intellectual discourse on the arts and artist demonstrations from October 14-17, 2015.The conference opened with a Dance Show – Dance Breaking Boundaries with performances by E.Gwynn Dancers, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University USA, University of Georgia, USA,The Dance and Performance Institution Trinidad and Tobago, EMCVPA Jamaica and the National Dance Theatre Company. The closing show “Water the Roots Fundraising Concert” featured alumni – Dance - Sodanne Browne, Kimiko Miller, NDTC with choreographic works by past student of Dance Christopher Walker and lecturer Marlon Simms. Drama- Kathy “Tan Deh Deh” Grant, Donald “Iceman” Anderson, Simone “Chukku” Simpson and Music Raging Fyah, Jermaine Blake backed by current student band Phuzzion, Notis with guests Jesse Royale and Iba Mahr. Cherine, a friend of the college made a guest appearance.
Calendar 2016 is ready, order yours today!
2016 Calendar ...THE GATEWAY TO CREATIVE CAREERS … Arts Management …Dance …Drama …Visual Arts
The Collegiate is a bi-monthly newsletter published by the Marketing and Public Relations Department of the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts Telephone: (876) 619 EDNA (3362)
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