Toronto Artist Dedicates Upcoming Performance to Jamaican Dance Pioneer Barbara Requa

By Neil Armstrong

Photo credit: Michael Mortley    Kevin A. Ormsby in Christopher Walker's "Unmasked: Seaweed King"

Kevin A. Ormsby was in rehearsal at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in February in Christopher Walker’s “Unmasked: Seaweed King” when Walker got the news about the passing of Jamaican dance pioneer, icon, choreographer, and educator Barbara Requa and attempted to withhold the information from him until after the rehearsal.

Walker soon relented because both were devastated by the passing of such a seminal figure in dance; both were significantly influenced by Requa in their nascent dance career.  

“She gave me my first scholarship in dance. Without her I would not have been at Edna Manley School in the youth division program. I wouldn’t have started my formal training when I did,” says the Toronto dancer, choreographer and founder of KasheDance, noting that Requa was the principal then. 

Requa taught Walker when he was a student at Edna Manley College in the dance program; Ormsby was in the junior program. “She was definitely instrumental in providing that first access to formal dance training through the youth program,” says Ormsby.

The nationally recognized dancer and Arts advocate was so inspired by Requa that he decided after that rehearsal to dedicate his upcoming three-day performance to her.

Requa, a co-founder of the Edna Manley School of Dance and a former teacher, principal and dean, and a founding member of the National Dance Theatre Company, died on February 23 at the age of 90 in Mexico.  A thanksgiving service was held on March 20 in Jamaica. 

From April 13 to 15, Ormsby will present his much anticipated bi-national solo project, “Trilogy of Being…”, at The Citadel: Ross Centre for Dance. The three solos celebrate his dance career in Canada and the United States. 

This year marks 37 years in dance for the 2021 finalist of the Johanna Metcalf Arts Prize which celebrates artists in Ontario who have made a recognized impact on the field and the public, and show great promise in the ongoing pursuit of their ambitious and visionary practices.

“Trilogy of BEing…” is a creative collaboration between Canadian and American choreographers — all of whom had worked or danced with Ormsby throughout his career. The production is grounded in Black existence and experiences: environmental, social and cultural.  

Photo contributed   Kevin A. Ormsby

Christopher Walker’s “Unmasked: Seaweed King” depicts a sort of phoenix rising from the refuse / ashes; addressing human impact on the environment told through a character of ancient wisdom linking Afro-Caribbean mas performance traditions. It is a part of “The Kula Ring, A Gifting Economy” (2016), a transdisciplinary expedition project merging scientific, environmental, and artistic research around ocean conservation and climate change.

“Somebody” by Denise Fujiwara, was inspired by Ormsby’s call to action in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. “I suggested a collaborative creative process that resulted in the solo for him.”  Poetry by Giller Prize-winning Canadian author Ian Williams, Poet Laureate of Jamaica 2021-2024, Olive Senior, and Lambda Literary Award winner, American Rosamund S. King shapes the solo rich in contemporary butoh technique. 

Photo by John Hart Wisconsin State Journal  Kevin A. Ormsby in Joel Valentin-Martinez's "Dear Brother"

Joel Valentin-Martinez, through visual research of images and music of significant Black historical periods (Harlem Renaissance, 1960s -1970s, and the era of 80s hip-hop), crafts the solo, “Dear Brother,”  commenting on how we see contemporary Black and Brown lives in shaping music, fashion and popular culture. Friday’s performance of the piece includes a special presentation with three other dance artists (Will Brown (NYC), Benjamin Russell (Toronto), and Kevin Shawn (Calgary) 

 

“Trilogy of BEing…” starts at 8:00 p.m. on all three nights at The Citadel: Ross Centre for Dance which is at 304 Parliament Street in Toronto. Tickets are $35 but for Livestream the cost is $10.

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/trilogy-of-being-tickets-404767559667

 

 

Remembering Michelle Evans, A Daughter of Spanish Town Years Later

 By Neil Armstrong

Photo of Michelle Evans contributed by Donald Radcliffe

 

In high school is where most of us developed friendships that we hoped would last for a lifetime. While we were in different classrooms from first to fifth forms, it was in sixth form that those of us who chose that path all came together in our final two years of school — Arts or Science. That’s how it was at St. Jago High School in Spanish Town, Jamaica, where I met Michelle. Her surname was Easy then, but she subsequently changed it to Evans here in the Greater Toronto Area where she lived for many years. 

 

Michelle Evans, born on January 12, 1969, passed away here in the Greater Toronto Area on October 17, 2014, after a period of illness. It was only a few days ago that many of us — her high school friends living here in Canada, and in Jamaica — found out that she died more than eight years ago. We are in shock. How could she have died and there was no word of her death through our network or grapevine?

 

Since hearing of her passing, I have contacted mutual high school friends, and even members of my family who met Michelle, to share the news with them. Thank you, Rodcliff Lewis, for listening to that inner voice that propelled you to visit her family home on Ellis Street in Spanish Town to ask about her. Thanks to Antoinette “Shaggy” Cole-McFarlane for being the conduit of Rodcliff’s updates regarding Michelle.

 

Michelle was outspoken and could argue eloquently with much laughter to share. That’s my memory of her in high school and even in our conversations here. In the lead up to exams, we — including Charmaine Simpson, now deceased; Opal Wright, and Carolyn DaCosta — would head to the Kingston and St. Andrew Parish Library or the Institute of Jamaica to study. Michelle was the co-editor of Ravensworth Review, the 1985-1986 school yearbook from which I have pulled some of the photos to share in this reflection of/tribute to her. She helped me to organize a class party at my home when we were in lower sixth form. Michelle was a conscientious person. 

 

Although she migrated to Canada several years before I did, when we reconnected it was seamless — there were no gaps in our friendship. Michelle would often accompany me to weekend events when I worked at a radio station at York University. We would check out some cultural events, restaurants, and just chat. It was Michelle who informed me of the passing of fellow schoolmates Charmaine Simpson (July 5, 2000) and Albert Coombs (December 24, 2008). We — Michelle, Donald Radcliffe, and I — kept in touch but at some point our tight connection loosened. Life is like that; sometimes we are so focused on obligations, responsibilities, and priorities that we grow apart.

 

I hadn’t spoken to Michelle in years but I remember meeting her daughter, Avarie, and how much of a doting mother she was to her. Michelle had changed her job, moved to somewhere else in the city, and soon we lost our bond of friendship.

Pages of Ravensworth Review, St. Jago High School, 1985-1986, for which Michelle was the co-editor

 

Although it is more than eight years later, I would like to express my condolences to Avarie, Michelle’s mother, Edith, sisters Elleith and Valerie, and other family members. 

 

Michelle, a daughter of Ravensworth, Spanish Town, has left us but she will never be forgotten.

Hanging out with Michelle at an event in Toronto, Canada

David Blake named inaugural academy director of Urdang at City

David Blake named inaugural academy director of Urdang at City: TORONTO: When a guest at a hotel on Jamaica’s north coast predicted that young David Blake would become a star, little did his mother know that not only would he become a principal performer in the Disney musical, The Lion King, at the Lyceum...

Black Scientist’s Task Force Proposes Anti-Black Racism Strategy To Ontario Government

Black Scientist’s Task Force Proposes Anti-Black Racism Strategy To Ontario Government: By Neil ArmstrongContributing Editor TORONTO, Ontario (Friday, February 17, 2023) — An eminent group of Black scientists in Ontario has proposed that the provincial government adopt its vision of “an evidence-informed public system approach that supports the equitable health, wellbeing and prosperity of Ontario’s Black population.” The Black Scientists’ Task Force on Vaccine Equity, which ...

Professor Encourages Black Canadians To Explore Paradigms To Community Wealth

Professor Encourages Black Canadians To Explore Paradigms To Community Wealth: By Neil ArmstrongContributing Editor BRAMPTON, Ontario (Wednesday, March 8, 2023) — A Jamaican-Canadian professor wants Black Canadians, who have succeeded in life, to reimagine how they can help others, who are not their relatives and, in doing so, generate wealth in the Black community. In her presentation, titled “Reimagining Generational Wealth Beyond Biological Imperatives”, Dr. ...