Michael Reckord, Contributor

Two dancers perform during the Movements Dance Company of Jamaica's 25th Anniversary Season of Dance, held at The Little Theatre, Tom Redcam Avenue, St. Andrew, last Thursday. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer

Saturday night's presentation by Movements Dance Company of Jamaica ended with Artistic Director Monica Campbell McFarlane's dance 'Baraka'. The Swahili title means 'Blessed', and the Grub Cooper penned and performed song to which the dance was choreographed includes the words 'I am blessed, you are blessed, we are blessed.'

Those sentiments sum up the mood and message of the company's season, dubbed 'Into the Light'.

In the 25 years, Movements has not only existed. It has grown and developed. The company's 25th season utilised two guest choreographers, the international-award winning Christopher Huggins and Jamaica's Jackie Guy, formerly with the National Dance Theatre Company and a founding tutor and choreographer for Movements, now based in Britain.

The evening began with a 1993 work 'Flashback' (Campbell McFarlane), a dance drama about a man who, after a fuss with his wife goes to a nightclub full of sexily-costumed dancing girls, has sex with one of them, and consequently gets HIV/AIDS.

Danger

A strong piece, it was performed well, but what struck me at this most recent, of many, viewings was the use of red or pink to signal danger. For example, the backdrop is liberally splashed with blood-red paint; the wife appears initially in a reddish dress, and the husband's HIV-carrying sex partner has pink hair.

Next was one of the late Neville Black's best works, 'Ceremony'. It is about unity among three prehistoric men who survive even in the face of temptation by the snake goddess. As the goddess, the sinuous, slithering, continually coiling and uncoiling Kamina Johnson was outstanding and the enthusiastic applause she received as the dance ended was well deserved.

The third dance, 'Tears of War', was, for me, the highlight of the concert. Choreographed by Huggins, the work shows that there are no winners in war, only "precious lives lost, altered and missed."

In contrast to 'Tears of War', Campbell McFarlane's 'Ushindi', the second new work for the evening, is a joy-filled, celebratory piece. The performers go into leaps, spins, gyration, shuffles and extensions in all directions; but the mood is constant and joy reigns.