Dancers from Movements Dance Company wowed the New York audience, last weekend at the Milton G. Bassin Performing Arts Center, York College, Jamaica Queens, performing their splendid repertoire of works, to include those choreographed by Jamaica’s Monica Campell McFarlene, CD, artistic director of “Movements”, and those of New York based established dancer and choreographer, Christopher Huggins, formerly of the renowned Alvin Ailey Dance Theater.
The slated performance at the end of a week’s long celebration of the seventy-third birthday of Jamaican international and cultural icon, Robert Nesta Marley, and the recognition of Black History Month, it was destined for the troupe to make their expedition from Kingston, Jamaica to New York at such a time.
“It was by God’s grace and divine mastery for us to be here in New York at this time to be able to showcase our work,” says McFarlene.
Consul General of New York, the Hon. Trudy Deans, echoed this sentiment as she explained at a reception on the eve of their performance, that the plan was in the making for the troupe to make their journey to New York from Jamaica for some time now but had encountered various impediments, primarily funding.
To the patrons, a surprising discovery and delight, captivated with renditions of: the powerful Bread of Life; the mystical, Father Father; the assuring On Eagle’s Wings; the poignant Searchlight; the spirited Liv Light; and the brooding The Wrath of God.
Father, Father and dramatic close to the evening’s production The Wrath of God were choreographed by Christopher Huggins; while the others by artistic director, Monica McFarlene.
The solo appearance of Movements Dance Company of Jamaica at the Milton G. Bassin Performing Arts Center was presented under the distinguished patronage of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Jamaica, The Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith, and made possible by the magnanimity of sponsors: Jamaica National Group, Jamaica Tourist Board, The Port Authority of Jamaica, MegaMart, Golden Krust Caribbean Bakery and Grill, VP Records, and through generous donors of the dance company.
