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NETTLEFORD, Rex -- Choreography, Education (1933 - 2010)

Name: Rex Nettleford
Born: February 3, 1933
Died: February 2, 2010
Industry: Choreography, Education

Professor the Honourable Ralston Milton Nettleford, better known as Rex Nettleford, was a national patriot, cultural ambassador, international scholar, dancer, choreographer, orator and Vice-Chancellor Emeritus of the University of the West Indies.

Nettleford was born February 3, 1933 in Bunkers Hill, Trelawny. He was the third of four children of a family of humble circumstances. He attended infant school in Falmouth, the Unity Government School and the Montego Bay Boys’ School. Upon leaving the Montego Bay Boys’ School, he won a scholarship to attend Cornwall College. Signs of Nettleford’s talent for choreography and dance were evident during his time at Cornwall, having choreographed and participated in several school dance routines. After graduating and teaching at Cornwall College for a while he won another open scholarship in 1953 to attend the University College of the West Indies in Kingston where he read for a degree in History.

Professor Nettleford earned his B.A. (Hons.) degree in 1956 and in a matter of three days he joined the University College of the West Indies staff as acting Resident Tutor in Trinidad. In that same year, he won the Issa Scholarship but did not take it up. Instead, he accepted the Rhodes Scholarship in 1957 to read for post graduate work in politics at Oxford University. Nettleford was the first West Indian to take this very prestigious degree which was specifically designed to train teachers.

During his stay in Oxford at Oriel College, he was active in the Oxford University Drama Society, choreographing for the Society’s many productions. He was also president of the Ballet Club and encouraged an interest in Afro-Caribbean dance.

On his return to Jamaica in 1959, he rejoined the staff of the University College of the West Indies and was immediately recruited by his mentor and founding father of the College, Sir Phillip Sherlock, to become Director of the College’s Extra-Mural Department (later the School of Continuing Studies). He was also made Resident Tutor for Jamaica and Staff Tutor in Political Education serving all territories that support the University College of the West Indies. Nettleford played an integral role in the expansion of the Extra Mural Department, and became an advocate of Higher Education, which prompted him to establish the Trade Union Education Institute in 1964.

As Director of Studies at the Trade Union Education Institute at the University College, he strived to improve the lives of Jamaica’s underprivileged, through the Institute’s objective, which allowed unionised, factory, and farm workers to unite with scholars to help bridge the education gap between the classes. During his time at the University of the West Indies he was elevated to top position in the University’s hierarchy: Deputy Vice Chancellor, 1986-98, then he was made Vice Chancellor, a position he kept until his retirement in 2004. He continued to serve the University as Vice Chancellor Emeritus, Professor of Cultural Studies.

As an intellectual, Professor Nettleford made distinctive contributions to Caribbean thought. Alongside noted Caribbean scholars, M.G. Smith and Roy Augier, he undertook a study of the Rastafari movement. This study, published in 1961, was later credited with helping to give credibility to a social group which hitherto had been construed as social outcasts. His contribution to academic literature is copious and encompasses books, journal articles, reports and various papers, some of which are listed below:

    • Caribbean Cultural Identity, the Case of Jamaica: an Essay in Cultural Dynamics. Kingston: Institute of Jamaica, 1978.
    • Cultural Action and Social Change, the Case of Jamaica: an Essay in Caribbean Cultural Identity. Ottawa, Ontario: International Development Research Centre, 1979.
    • Trade Unionism Impact on Jamaica. Kingston (13 Waterloo Rd, Kgn. 10): Joint Trade Unions Research Development Centre, 1984.
    • The University of the West Indies: a Caribbean Response to the Challenge of Change. London, MacMillan Caribbean, 1990.
    • Tribute to Edna Manley. [Kingston (Mona, Kgn. 7): Rex Nettleford], 1987.
    • Manley and the Politics of Jamaica: Towards an Analysis of Political Change in Jamaica 1938-1968. [Kingston (Mona, Kgn. 7)]: Institute of Social and Economic Research, 1971.
    • Identity, Race and Protest in Jamaica. New York: William Morrow Company, 1972.
    • Mirror, Mirror: Identity, Race and Protest in Jamaica. Kingston: Collins and Sangster, 1970.
    • Dance Jamaica: Cultural Definition an Artistic Discovery: the National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica 1962-1983. New York: Grove Press, 1985.
    • National Identity and Attitudes to Race in Jamaica. Kingston: Bolivar Bookshop, 1966.
    • Inward Stretch, Outward Reach: a Voice from the Caribbean. London: Macmillan Caribbean, 1993.
    • Roots and Rhythms: Jamaica’s National Dance Theatre. London: Andre Deutsch, 1969.
    • “Caribbean Studies and the Creative Process: Towards Cultural Definition and Intellectual Discovery.” Caribbean Studies Newsletter 12.2 (Summer 1985).
    • “Aggression, Violence and Force: Containment and Eruption in the Jamaican History of Protest.” Violence and Aggression in the History of Ideas. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1974. 133-157.

Throughout Professor Nettleford’s career, dancing remained pivotal in his life. In 1963, he became the Co-founder, Artistic Director, Choreographer and Lead Dancer for the National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica (NDTC). The NDTC is an ensemble which focuses on fusing together traditional Jamaican music, dance and rituals within the European balletic framework. NDTC remained as one of Nettleford’s many creative outlets and was used as a tool to portray traditional religions such as Kumina and Pocomania as creative artistic expressions, and not just aspects of our religious history. Under his direction, the NDTC flourished and is today one of Jamaica’s most recognized and outstanding dance groups with a renowned repertoire. His belief that the Arts fostered self awareness and cultural identity was not limited to NDTC, as he was involved in a number of cultural enterprises and organisations. These include: Chairman of the Institute of Jamaica (1972-80); Cultural Consultant to UNESCO; Chairman, Task Force on Culture for Five-Year Development Plan (1978-82); and Member of the Jamaica Festival Commission.

For his contribution to academia and cultural identity, Nettleford has received several honours and awards such as:

  • Order of Merit (1975) – Jamaican Government
  • The Gold Musgrave Medal (1981)- The Institute of Jamaica
  • Living Legend Award (1989) The Black Arts Festival in Atlanta
  • Order of Caribbean Community (2008) – CARICOM
  • Chancellor’s Medal of the University of the West Indies, 2009
  • Honorary Doctor of Literature : Grande Valley State, USA (2000); University of Sheffield, UK (2001); University of Toronto, Canada (2001)
  • Nettleford died in a United States Hospital on February 2, 2010, a day before his 77th birthday.

Sources

  • Fairweather, Jane. “Rex”. Swing Magazine 1973.
  • Jamaica Mahogany Tributes to Rex Nettleford. Ed. Cecile Clayton. UWI:Mona, 2011.
  • “Saluting a Living Legend.” Sunday Gleaner, 6 Feb. 2005. 21-26.
  • Thirty Five Years of the NDTC. 35th Ed. City of Kingston Credit Union, 1997.

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