Eddy Thomas

Last updated • 1 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Eddy Thomas (c. 1932 – 10 April 2014) was a Jamaican dancer, choreographer and dance instructor. With Rex Nettleford he co-founded the National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica (NDTC). Before establishing the NDTC, Thomas was a member of the Martha Graham Dance Company in New York City. [1]

Background

In 1958, he established the Eddy Thomas Workshop, with branches in Kingston and Mandeville, which was a foremost training ground for the development of Jamaican artists, and in 1959, Thomas won the Jamaican government Arts Council Award and went to study in New York, and at the Connecticut College Dance Festival in New London with Martha Graham and such others such as Merce Cunningham and José Limón. [2]

In 1962, Thomas and Rex Nettleford co-founded the National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica (NDTC). [1] [3] Works that Thomas choreographed works included: Legend of Lovers' Leap, A Time to Rejoice, Foot Notes in Jazz, Afro West Indian Suite, Games of Arms, Liza, And It Came To Pass, Concert Suite, Country Wedding, Parade Kingston 13, Jamaican Promenade and Omegan Procession. [2] Also a costume designer, he was responsible for most of the costume designs for the NDTC's repertoire. [2]

Thomas died at his home in Montego Bay, Jamaica, on 10 April 2014, at the age of 82. [1] [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Twyla Tharp</span> American dancer and choreographer

Twyla Tharp is an American dancer, choreographer, and author who lives and works in New York City. In 1966 she formed the company Twyla Tharp Dance. Her work often uses classical music, jazz, and contemporary pop music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Modern dance in the United States</span>

Modern dance in the United States is a form of contemporary dance that was developed in the United States in the 20th century. African American modern dance also developed a distinct style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martha Graham</span> American dancer and choreographer (1894–1991)

Martha Graham was an American modern dancer and choreographer. Her style, the Graham technique, reshaped American dance and is still taught worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alvin Ailey</span> American dancer and activist (1931–1989)

Alvin Ailey Jr. was an American dancer, director, choreographer, and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT). He created AAADT and its affiliated Alvin Ailey American Dance Center as havens for nurturing Black artists and expressing the universality of the African-American experience through dance.

Jamaican culture consists of the religion, norms, values, and lifestyle that define the people of Jamaica. The culture is mixed, with an ethnically diverse society, stemming from a history of inhabitants beginning with the original inhabitants of Jamaica. The Spaniards originally brought slavery to Jamaica. Then they were overthrown by the English. Jamaica later gained emancipation on 1 August 1838, and independence from the British on 6 August 1962. Black slaves became the dominant cultural force as they suffered and resisted the harsh conditions of forced labour. After the abolition of slavery, Chinese and Indian migrants were transported to the island as indentured workers, bringing with them ideas from their country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna Sokolow</span> American dance artist (1910–2000)

Anna Sokolow was an American dancer and choreographer. Sokolow's work is known for its social justice focus and theatricality. Throughout her career, Sokolow supported of the development of modern dance around the world, including in Mexico and Israel.

<i>Appalachian Spring</i> 1944 ballet by Martha Graham and Aaron Copland

Appalachian Spring is a ballet created by the American composer Aaron Copland and the choreographer Martha Graham, later arranged as an orchestral work. Commissioned by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, Copland composed the ballet for Graham; the original choreography was by Graham, with costumes by Edythe Gilfond and sets by Isamu Noguchi. The music was well-received at the 1944 premiere, earning Copland the Pulitzer Prize for Music after the ballet's 1945 United States tour. The orchestral suite composed in 1945 was played that year by many symphony orchestras; the suite is among Copland's best-known works, and the ballet remains essential in the Martha Graham Dance Company repertoire.

Ralston Milton "Rex" Nettleford OM FIJ OCC was a Jamaican scholar, social critic, choreographer, and Vice-Chancellor Emeritus of the University of the West Indies (UWI), the leading research university in the Commonwealth Caribbean.

Dennis Scott was a Jamaican poet, playwright, actor and dancer. His well-known poem "Marrysong" is used in the IGCSE syllabus. He was also a theatre director and drama teacher.

Gawain Garth Fagan, CD is a Jamaican modern dance choreographer. He is the founder and artistic director of Garth Fagan Dance, a modern dance company based in Rochester, New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aston Cooke</span> Jamaican playwright (1958–2019)

Aston Cooke was one of Jamaica's leading playwrights and the recipient of nine national Actor Boy Awards for outstanding achievement in various categories of theatre in Jamaica. Cooke was an inductee to the Caribbean Hall of Fame for Arts and Culture for his contribution to Jamaican theatre over the years. Cooke served as Chairman of the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (2013–2016).

Troy Schumacher is an American choreographer, dancer, and director based in New York City. He is a soloist in the New York City Ballet and has choreographed for the company since 2014; before being promoted to soloist, he danced in NYCB's corps de ballet starting in 2005. He is the founder of Balletcollective, an arts collective that has created new ballet-based works since its inception in 2010. His work has been presented by New York City Ballet, Martha Graham Dance Company, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival, Performa, Danspace Project, Guggenheim Works & Process, the Joyce Theater, and NYU Skirball Center. In addition to live performances, Schumacher has choreographed numerous fashion and commercial shoots, including works for Sony PlayStation, Capezio featuring Maddie Ziegler, HP, Aritzia, CR Fashion Book, Tom Ford, and The New York Times. He has been dubbed a “visionary artist” by T Magazine and is “one of his generation’s most acclaimed choreographers”

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Modern dance</span> Genre of western concert or theatrical dance

Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert or theatrical dance which included dance styles such as ballet, folk, ethnic, religious, and social dancing; and primarily arose out of Europe and the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was considered to have been developed as a rejection of, or rebellion against, classical ballet, and also a way to express social concerns like socioeconomic and cultural factors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Musgrave Medal</span> Annual award by the Institute of Jamaica

The Musgrave Medal is an annual award by the Institute of Jamaica in recognition of achievement in art, science, and literature. Originally conceived in 1889 and named in memory of Sir Anthony Musgrave, the founder of the Institute and the former Governor of Jamaica who had died the previous year, the medal was the first to be awarded in the Western Hemisphere.

Carlton Harold "Jackie" Guy CD MBE is a Jamaican dancer, choreographer and teacher who has been based in the United Kingdom since the mid-1980s.

The National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica (NDTC) is Jamaica's leading dance theatre company.

The Martha Graham Dance Company, founded by Martha Graham in 1926, is both the oldest dance company in the United States and the oldest integrated dance company. The company is critically acclaimed in the artistic world and has been recognized as "one of the great dance companies of the world" by the New York Times and as "one of the seven wonders of the artistic universe" by the Washington Post.

David Earle is a Canadian choreographer, dancer and artistic director. In 1968 Earle was co-founder and co-artistic director of Toronto Dance Theatre alongside Patricia Beatty and Peter Randazzo, where Earle choreographed new modern dance pieces. In 1996 Earle started his own company called Dancetheatre David Earle where he continues to choreograph new works, to teach, and to create with the next generation of modern dancers. David Earle has received many accolades; a member of the Order of Canada, a recipient of the Jean A. Chalmers Award for Distinction in Choreography, also an honorary doctorate degree from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.

Marjorie Whylie СD OD is a Jamaican pianist, percussionist and educator who was musical director of the National Dance Theatre Company for 45 years.

Albert Mawere Opoku (1915–2002), was a Ghanaian choreographer, dancer, printmaker, painter, and educator. He was the first person to teach courses in African dance at the University of Ghana, Legon, and was also the founder and first director of the Ghana National Dance Ensemble.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Campbell, Howard (11 April 2014). "Co-founder of Jamaican dance company, Eddy Thomas, dies at 82". CKWX. Associated Press . Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 "Eddy Thomas". National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  3. 1 2 "Eddy Thomas, NDTC co-founder, dead". Jamaica Observer . 11 April 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2023.