EDITOR’S NOTE Coleen Douglas - Director, Marketing and Communications
In this
ISSUE
Marlon Simms pays tribute to Barry Moncriefe School of Drama reflects on Bobby Clarke Put heading for Neila’s article Founders’ Week 2020 in pictures
The ache for home lives in all of us. The safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.’ Maya Angelou We hope you are safe at home and learning to appreciate the special place home is. I know we are separated due to the COVID-19 pandemic but home is really where the heart is and EDNA is home. This issue is dedicated to those who have gone on ahead of us. Those who laid the foundation for what is now home to so many. As we remember our founding fathers, we pause to celebrate the lives of two individuals who served the College for many years – Barry Moncrieffe and Robert “Bobby” Clarke. We share highlights of Founders Week 2020 and Neila Ebanks, Director of Studies at the School of Dance takes us on a dance journey during covid-19. Artstock remains open with fine art and gifts from our graduates, faculty, students, and other notable Jamaican artists. Stop by for our “one of a kind” gift items during our new opening hours Mondays to Fridays from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm. How are you doing? Please feel free to share your experiences, especially how you use the arts during this time. Until Then… One Love Coleen Douglas
Published by Marketing & Communication Department Editor: Coleen Douglas Graphic Design: Robert Ayre Photo Credits: Fernandez Barrett Joni Gordon Administration: Kay-Ann McKenzie
Director, Marketing and Communications ____________________________________________________________________________ Submit all editorial material to marketing@emc.edu.jm with “The Collegiate Editorial” included in the subject line.
From the Principal’s Desk I AM [WE ARE]… History Remembered, History in the Making Trudy-Ann Barrett, Ph.D. Acting Principal Vice Principal Academic Affairs
“As artist(e)s, we must fuse culture with innovation as we adapt to the changing environment, if we are to survive”. March 2020 will forever be etched into the annals of history as a time when the entire world was forced to pause and contend with an impending “new normal” occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the period also fittingly correlated with another pause…the kind that required us at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts to reflect and to pay homage to the Founders of our noble institution through our Founders Week 2020 celebrations. Themed: “I AM…History Remembered, History in the Making”, the weeklong activities from March 1-6 brought home words
uttered decades ago by Elie Wiesel that “Without memory, there is no culture. Without memory, there would be no civilization, no society, no future.” Our journey to where we are today as an arts institution is as a result of the deliberate efforts of our founding fathers and mothers whose convictions concurred with Wiesel’s philosophy, and their belief in the importance of the role of the arts as a conduit for cultural and historical preservation. The arts, artistic expressions and experiences serve as critical reminders of who we are as a nation, as an institution and as a people. As creatives, we are therefore poised to find opportunities in the midst of crisis. It is our history and culture that has so far, charted the path in mainstreaming art as a natural way of life, and as a viable option for economic growth and development. Today, as the world experiences and navigates a phase of turmoil and uncertainty, it will become necessary for the artist(e) to participate in the revolution that will call for yet another paradigm shift. As artist(e)s, we must fuse culture with
innovation as we adapt to the changing environment, if we are to survive. Today, more than ever, the world is desperately in need of artist(e)s to help us make sense of the pivot required by the digital age. How then do we reimagine the future without losing sight of the visions and critical landmarks laid by our forebears? What opportunities are afforded in this liminal space between the history gone and the one in the making? What legacy will we leave behind? It is said that when nothing is certain, anything is possible! May the takeaways of this period therefore serve as a springboard to launch us into the future, even more grounded and committed to the vision and mission of this noble institution. And as we negotiate this history making, may we embody these words of one of our founders, Edna Manley: “To be yourself. That is the great democracy in which the arts will flourish.” Walk good!
Remembering Barry Moncrieffe - A founding father in dance Marlon Simms, Dean School of Dance & Artistic Director, NDTC
Company now have never danced alongside him, ALL of us wished we did. H e moved with such ease and kinaesthetic eloquence shaping beautiful lines and car ving images in space that told our stories. Prof. Net tleford of ten referred to him as the dancer’s dancer and would encourage us to all drink from his wealth of unique knowledge. The legacy of the NDTC was in his body. From studio to the stage he passed it on with an undeniable c onvict ion. We looked up to him for his kindness, understanding, compassion and love. We looked up to him for his excellent classes, memor y, sophisticated st yle, wit and dr y sense of humour. When we were feeling low at rehearsals and you would hear him say, “Let’s go”, somehow, we would feel ready. We got excited whenever we saw him. It was hard to be formal and call him Mr. Moncrieffe. Ever ybody called him, “Uncle Barr y” and we understood why. H e had the spirit of a father who many dreamed of, the warmth of a favourite uncle you would always want to visit on holidays, the protection of a brother who would never leave your side and the securit y of a friend who would make you feel bet ter by always being thoughtful, understanding and present. H e had an all-embracing spirit that emanated kindness and love. It was all around him and we were all drawn to it.
How do you quantity 55 years of dedication, passion, brilliance, transformative excellence and volunteerism in building a National legacy? The results of which can only be done by multiplying those 55 years by the countless lives that have been changed. To understand Uncle Barry’s 55 years in dance, can only be subtotalled under this broader narrative. The consistency to return day after day with fervour makes you wonder; how did he remain inspired? How did he stay so focused? What drove him? How did he do it? My simple answer lies in the recognition that Uncle Barry found his Devine calling. Raised in a loving and supportive home, he recognized his purpose early in life. Believing and embodying that in sharing his gifts, he too will equally be inspired and fulfilled. This became evident to all who were in his presence. So much so that grace, style, class and sophistication became synonymous to the “Uncle Barry way.” H e was dance royalt y. Though most of us in the
His dedication to the company made him available even af ter his tenure as Ar tistic Director. This one on one availabilit y even af ter he while he was healing showed a strength of character that was always a consistent trait of Uncle Barr y. H e was the real deal, genuine, true and human. To borrow a line from Marjorie Whylie, our dear Musical Director Emerita, if we didn’t have an Uncle Barr y, we would have had to invent him. H e walked the walk and talked the talk. H e was who he was and never claimed to be anyone or anything else. H e was a man of noble character, dignified and true, a genuine, caring and loving individual who had a dedication to purpose that’s near impossible to replicate. We’ve suffered a huge loss but it’s a major win in our hear ts because he had let us in, shared his life with us and lef t a piece of himself with us always. H e prepared us for his depar ture, but we were not ready to let him go. Yet, the time has come. To quantif y his 55 years, we must therefore continue
Remembering Robert (Bobby) Clarke The School of Drama Community
expanded the toolbox of organic devices which created a demand by private entities for Speech workshops. Over the years he became a much loved and respected teacher. He was always sensitive to the challenges of his students and their various styles of learning and psycho-social conditions. He was a meticulous and innovative teacher who saw the teaching-learning process generally, and theatre education in particular, as a civilising social vehicle for the students themselves. He also drew on his exposure and experience in the theatre in fashioning an approach to teaching that was a mixture of practicality and applied philosophy. Thorough planning, documentation and evaluation of his teaching were also among the continual highlights of his work. This preoccupation with detail and order was even evidenced in the way he stacked away his belongings especially his collection of pens.
It’s an honour for the faculty and staff of the School of Drama of the Edna Manley College to pay tribute to our colleague and friend Robert (Bobby) Clarke. Some of us knew him even from our formative years as students bursting with cultural optimism and creative buoyancy in the 80’s at the then Jamaica National School of Drama. For all of us regardless of our vantage point his personality and professionalism has left us with warm and pleasant memories. For those of us who knew Bobby as a student at the School of Drama, he was among those who were hungry to learn the craft of the actor and for whom there was no such thing as a ’small part.’ He was particularly proficient in ensemble work a quality that he maintained in much of his work as an actor after graduation with The Company Limited and the LTM Pantomime. After maturing as an actor, teacher and acquiring some experience in broadcasting Bobby was invited to join the adjunct faculty in the full-time programme at the School of Drama about fifteen years ago to teach Voice and Speech. Prior to this he had taught the subject in the Continuing Education programme for a couple of terms and had shown himself to be an excellent motivator for his students with a solid grasp of the course content. His methodology thereafter
As Director, his bold sense of adventure could be seen in such monumental works as “Blood Wedding” by the Spanish poet and dramatist Federico Lorca and “O Babylon” by Derek Walcott. One was staged indoors and the other in the vastly challenging Amphitheatre. His adventurous spirit and resilient commitment to the theatre can also be evidenced by his involvement with the National Pantomime where he spent the several years as director. As an academic colleague he was dependable, compassionate and loved a fierce debate. He was hardly ever keen on light social banter. He relished intense analysis in which his effusive appetite for words were a staple signature. However, some members of the administrative staff were privy to his playful side and childish grin during their lunch break. For all of us his humility, intellectual honesty, and dedication to education and the communicative art of theatre were always evident in his contribution to programme and institutional development of the school. He always saw his work and commitment to the school as connected to the larger cause of the cultural development of Jamaica and the region in which the artist and teachers of the arts are agents. The spontaneous outpouring of love and sadness of his former students locally and in the diaspora, on social media are a testament to the stature and impact of the man on the lives of many. We are all quite deeply moved by his passing in this, the youth of his senior years. He will be warmly remembered. Walk good Bobby and tell dem odda ones ova yonda, howdy.
Dancing the COVIDance: Swivel, Pivot, Connect. Neila-Ann Ebanks, Acting Director of Studies, EMCVPA School of Dance
“5…6…7…8…and…” This familiar vocal countdown is standard for global dance educators and, no matter the language, dance students know it to mean, “You have 4 counts to get ready to move!” Since COVID-19’s rearrangement of world affairs, however, the script now includes: “Can everyone hear and see me?” “Remember to mute your mics people!” “Focus your cameras so I can see your foot alignment, please.” “I know the music is delayed but try your best to follow the rhythm.” “Please don’t wear your pajamas to class again, kids!” “Oops! Sorry! I just got bumped from the WiFi…” “Is anybody there?” “Woof! Woof!” The international dance community has had to evolve, almost instantaneously, in response to the changing everyday and dance-specific situations that COVID-19 has created. From major dance companies, to freelance commercial choreographers, every dance professional and student has been affected by the pandemic’s timing, nature and widespread impact.
Those of us who are also citizens and visitors of the social media lands of Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, have seen dance offerings on these platforms increase exponentially. Prior to mid-March 2020, we had become familiar with viewing and participating in videodance mashups and choreography challenges. Dance companies’ social media presence was primarily a re-presentation of archival images, advertisement of upcoming performances or live classes, behind-the-scenes peeks of dance life or show preparation and a general addition to the robust off-line activity that was the nucleus of the craft of dance. Now, what was once an additional space for the dancer to visit, has become the hub for all dance interaction. Physical distancing protocol and efforts to flatten the pandemic’s curve have made it near impossible for many dancers around the world to get to a studio for even solo training. Many choreographers, dance performers and part-time teachers have lost income for the initial months of COVID and the rest of 2020 as some of the longest running performances and the newest performance projects have been postponed and cancelled. While governmental decision-makers try to use projections, models, best, practices and informed speculations to plan for our collective futures, the dancers of the world have, of necessity, migrated to the 2-dimensional world of the internet, and are thinking rapidly on our proverbial feet.
‘Internet-ionally’, we now have relatively equal and low fee access to technique classes in the comfort of our home spaces, if access to WiFi or data bundles is not problematic. These classes, which range from Limón Technique with the José Limón Dance Company in the USA, to Anouk Van Dijk’s Countertechnique classes from the Netherlands and even Dunham Technique with the Institute for Dunham Technique Certification (USA) are top-tier offerings coming from some of the world’s best proponents of dance. Such Jamaican dance studios and companies as Dance Fyah, L’Acadco: A United Caribbean Dance Force and Dance Xpressionz migrated classes to the online space within a month and a half of the shutdown and have been using this moment to expand their social media reach as well. What of the world of dance academia? How have colleges and universities who offer dance at the Certificate, Associate and Bachelor Degree levels, as we do at EMCVPA, been operating during this time? A number of our global contemporaries in dance education and scholarship (e.g. The Julliard School – USA; Trinity Laban – UK; York University – CA), have kept social media active through online collaborations, glimpses into the lives of student artists, open guest classes with dance faculty and the posting of images and videos. The Tisch School of The Arts at New York University even presented its Second Avenue Dance Company’s Major Dance Concert via Facebook Live at the beginning of May. What is critical, though, is that none of these institutions used open platforms for the ‘work’ of teaching their major stakeholders, the students. As tertiary education spaces, our bottom line is necessarily different, as we are teaching not just towards competency, but towards mastery and certification. Those institutions, such as University of Wisconsin, Madison, with an already robust online platform for programme and course delivery, were able to quickly expand to near-complete online. The EMCVPA’s, Edna Online pilot had started in September 2019, with a few theory-based courses from each School having been transferred to the Moodle platform. The plan continued in the January 2020 semester, with a view to the testing and evaluation of the experiences (for learners and
educators) through Schools’ Boards of Studies and the Online Learning committee, and the recalibration and addition of certain practical courses for the 2020 – 2021 academic year. With the advent COVID19, however, those plans had to be changed at warp speed (after due process of School, Committee and Board deliberation) so that the semester could be completed online for as many courses as possible – while maintaining the integrity of course content and competencies. Even before official deliberations were complete, the School of Dance faculty valiantly re-imagined online engagement for practical courses and, along with contemporaries from the School of Drama, took great initiative in testing available platforms for practical class delivery in real time (Google Classroom, Zoom, Instagram) and asynchronously (email, WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube). The more fulsome establishment of the Moodle platform as the Edna Online base has further given the dance faculty an opportunity to locate our lessons in a hub, and to create a repository of information that students can refer to even after the lesson is complete. To date, our courses are headed towards culmination with the only carryovers being those such as Teaching Practicum and Internship which require the full engagement of outside entities for their success. All has not gone without hitch, however, and our students, like others within Jamaica’s education system, have been faced with serious obstacles to learning in this largely untested academic environment. Not the least of these, has been access to the crux of this modality, the internet. We have discovered, through this situation, that the enthusiasm of our students’ previous virtual engagement with curricular and extracurricular activity was largely tied to the open WiFi available to them on our campus. With that, they were able to complete assignments, keep up-to-date with schedule adjustments, undertake research for classes and remain connected to the College’s communication pulse. Having been on lockdown of varying intensities in their familial homes, they now fight against several factors to continue their studies including a lack of consistent and affordable internet.
Some of our students also face environmental difficulties which include a lack of conducive spaces for physical training, having to travel back to their home countries and the associated quarantines upon arrival, responsibilities for siblings and household activities, lack of family/ community support for their choice of study, less-than-optimal devices for the volume of work being done and mental and emotional fatigue because of worry about the pandemic. To their credit, they have been able to maintain contact with faculty throughout and have been working courageously to complete assignments and prepare for final assessments. Faculty has also been much more flexible with submission timelines so that the students are not pressured with too many deliverables at once. Additionally, we have established bi-weekly virtual School of Dance meetings with all students and available faculty, so that we are still able to see each other and to hear students’ experiences firsthand.
not transformed. Our dependence on touch and in-person contact for studio and onstage transmission, for example, may not be as second nature as it once was and we will have to change our pre- and post-class habits and regulations to include new sanitisation protocols.
Our Deaf students have been particularly challenged by the non-adaptability of existing real-time platforms to their needs for on-the-spot learning. Our resident sign language interpreter does her best to translate the various communications in these scenarios but is often thwarted by a technological lag between reception and delivery. Only very recently, has Google launched its Google Meet application which allows immediate closed captioning of dialogue and so that will be integrated into the delivery of the rest of their classes wherever possible.
The inclusion of remote learning in this way will also create greater accessibility for differently-abled students, patrons and teachers, international lecturers and Artists-In-Residence. It will untether us from the previous limitations of dance education, performance and experience to a particular time and location and will allow us to truly cross dimensions with our art form.
To be sure, although this COVID19 situation is dynamic and shape-shifting, the dance community has been blessed by our agility in mind and body. It is this agility that has allowed us to respond with sensitivity and immediacy while keeping an ear to the ground for further change and envisioning the future of our artform. The nature of dance’s processes, products and presentations will assuredly be expanded, but
Choreographically, we may have to insist upon solo and film-based work from our student-choreographers until the ‘coast’ has been deemed clear by health authorities for touch and breathing in close proximities to be safe again. For our technique classes, we are re-imagining class number limits and are looking into alternating in-class and online attendance for batches of students. We are very fortunate that our smart studios will allow for that hybrid engagement and that our award-winning architecture is open air, which will augur well for in-person classes once movement restrictions are relaxed.
All projections are, of course, dependent upon global timelines and governmental decisions which, themselves, make for shaky ground, but as artist-educators, we understand balance. As agile, responsive, adaptable, visionary, strategic, and flexible thinkers, we are fully committed to the integrity of our offerings in arts education. Adept at creating new scenarios for performances, audience engagement and the enrichment of the global cultural milieu, we will ensure that, even virtually, we continue to remind humanity about the importance of embodied connection through dance.
FOR CARL “CALLY BUD” SAMUELS by Omaall Wright Gwaan mek Angels Calypso Moon walk like sisqo Music sweet like kisco Ina heaven wid yu Callybud disco Even in death yu cry out fi Beth, True love, no regrets. Hole ina mi heart, it drill mi. When Albert say yu say the Bwoy them kill mi She hugged mi, mi knees week No strength ina these feet, If mi children never deh deh mi bawl, When she squeezed mi and say Omaall, Omaall, Omaall. Everybody know mi nuh guh funeral, But I had to salute the general, Carl I came, stood outside the church, Is like man did a hold een the hurt, but the tears flow when the hearse reverse out a the church. Is like a flood gate burst. Water flow from mi eye, wet up mi shirt drop a dirt. Knowing time could not reverse, A decent human being, Yu heart true and clean, Yu last TV appearance, me n you, side by side. Lost I car and you offered I a ride.
u lef the world a bawl - Carl Boys and girls a bawl - Carl Higglers pon stall, principal a Vauxhall The whole world a bawl - carl Talk to a student too hard, major public outcry. Principal killed, nobody bats an eye. Investigation nuh guh nuh further. Another unsolved murder. Maybe yu last name wrong. Cause yu never name chang. Your justice nuh swift suh But yu children miss yu. A tonne a bricks couldn’t hit mi suh Covid couldn’t wicked suh The night yu passed, dem diss yu I’ve never been sick suh.
Remember how you spoke of your 2020 plans, And all a that gone through waste man. You were a great man Not even a proper newspaper Feature Jamaica has no love for the teachers When mi think about the journey and the reasoning Dorraine country, dumplin and seasoning. Hearing this news so displeasing. Man cry, yiye swell like bees sting Social, international and local, Jovial Da pain yah - felt global. Pon Facebook the tributes a roll een Troy feel it, somebody console him Nordia say this nuh real and it’s the truth Alston Clarendon miss yu youth. You were an Inspiration and many see, Them tek yu life but them couldnt steal yu legacy, While them a floss them aguh choke pon them Hennessey
Reflecting on
FOUNDERS’ WEEK 2020
The annual celebration of the Founders’ of The Edna Manley College was held March 1 to 6, under the theme “I AM… HISTORY REMEMBERED, HISTORY IN THE MAKING.” From a praise and worship at Fellowship Tabernacle on Sunday March 1 to an Alumni Lyme on March 6th, we reflected and created more memories. Of note was a special reading of one of the letters from Edna Manley written to former Curator of the National Gallery of Jamaica Mr. David Boxer. It was one of over 100 letters, which have been added to the Edna Manley Archive in The Edward Seaga Library and Resource Centre on the campus. Nineteen faculty members showcased their talents in various disciplines including fashion, jewellery, painting, photography and printmaking at The 2020 Faculty Exhibition opened on Tuesday at the CAG[e] Gallery. Celebrating “Research in The Arts Day,” featured alumna Sabrena McDonald Radcliffe and Damion Radcliffe. The 11th Annual Gender & Development Lecture was and exciting and engaging delivery from Keynote speaker, Acting Executive Director & Research Director at the Kinsey Institute Dr. Justin Garcia, on the topic “Modern Courtship, Romantic and Sexual Relationships in the Digital Age.” Dr. Justin R. Gacia, Keynote Speaker, 11th Annual Gender and Develotment Lecture
Danijha Simon, Kanille Brudy, Dashaun Prince, Shannan Lawes Students of The School of Dance and The School of Arts Management and Humanities
Tia Malcolm and Ramario Thomas, Students of The School of Drama in Performance
Dr. Keino Senior, Dean, School of Arts Management & Humanities
Students viewing the exhibition at the Cag[e] Gallery
Dr. Trudy-Ann Barrett,Acting Principal
Mr. Joseph Manley, grandson of national hero Norman Washington Manley and Dr. Petrina Dacres, Curator for the Edna Manley Foundation Event
The
Collegiate is a newsletter published by the Marketing and Communications Department of EMCVPA