Talking to one of Jamaica’s most exciting dancers and choreographers – Neila Ebanks
YE: Why are you an artist/dancer and when did you become one?
Neila: I think I was born one. My dance story starts when I was about 3 or 4 years old. My mother sent me to dance classes to rehabilitate my extreme pigeon fingers and I have been dancing ever since. It is a language as natural to me as breathing.
My art thing me. I was not the instigator of the relationship. But daily I make the decision to affirm my soul through my connection with Dance. It really is soul affirming for me.
YE: How would you describe your work?
Neila: Psychological, cathartic, layered. I rarely go for the easy or the obvious. I find that I use my choreography to deal with and work with my own ideas about life and living. My favorite form of choreography has always been contemporary dance because it can be just about anything you do.
YE: What kind of dance do you do?
Neila: I am a contemporary dancer who LOVES to improvise.
YE: What company/group do you dance with, if any?
Neila: Currently I dance with eNKompan.E, which is my own company… of one. I have previously performed and been invited with the Stella Maris Dance Ensemble, The University Dance Society, The NDTC, L’ACADCO, Dance Theater Xaymaca and various companies in the UK.
YE: Which artists/dancers have influenced you and how?
Neila: I have so much to owe to so many. My founding influences have been my early dance teachers, Monika Lawrence, Carol Murdock (now deceased), and Patsy Ricketts, who nurtured my enthusiasm and passion for dance at a very young age without being patronizing.
I was treated like a budding young artist and learned a lot of professionalism and respect for my art from these teachers. Patsy, in particular, gave me excellent examples of how to embody a performance. I carry that with me to this day. I have also been influenced by Nicholeen DeGrasse-Johnson, now director of the School of Dance. Through her example I have come to understand the fundamental importance of the educational potential of the art of Dance.
My years at UWI saw me working with Joseph Robinson, L’Antoinette Stines and Howard Daly, each of whom broadened the scope of dance for me, showing me another angle, another side of the prism, another possibility: L’Antoinette with her deep connection through dance with the spiritual and ancestral; Joe, with his always energetic proposals for the impossible; Howard, with his willingness to take risks with content and presentation.
It goes without saying (although I will say it) that I have also been influenced by Professor Rex Nettleford and the NDTC. Every summer of my dance-training years was spent at the NDTC Dance Season, soaking up the visual lessons in choreography, scenery, and acting. Furthermore, Professor Nettleford’s bilingual intellect (artistic and verbal) helped me to take ownership of both aspects of myself and to see the wonderful fit of the critical mind and the body in motion.
The tutelage of Arsenio Andrade, principal dancer of the NDTC and lecturer in the Cuban-Modern technique has also played an important role in the way I now understand the connection of the body with rhythm and space. I have also been fortunate to have contemporaries such as Chris Walker, Shelley-Ann Maxwell, Marlon Simms, Michael Holgate, and Oniel Pryce, who, through their willingness to find a voice through choreography and performance, strengthen my own resolve. daily.
Internationally, I have been influenced by the work of a number of contemporary choreographers, including Jiri Kylian, Lloyd Newson (DV8 Physical Theatre), Ulysses Dove, Bill T. Jones, Twyla Tharp, and Mia Michaels.
YE: What other interests do you have outside of dance?
Neila: I enjoy reading almost anything. I’m also crazy about yoga. I am planning to take horse riding and karate.
YE: What inspires you to stay motivated when the going gets tough?
Neila: The dream that was put in my soul. When the going gets tough, I have to turn inward and remember that dream and the feeling of righteousness that dream brings.
YE: What are some dance companies that you admire?
Neila: I have always liked specific pieces from each of our major Jamaican dance companies, newer and older works. As for Jamaican dancers, some who have really moved me include Patsy Ricketts, Arlene Richards, Natalie Chung, Arsenio Andrade, N’Jelle Gage, Simone Harris, Marlon Simms, Chris Walker, Shelley-Ann Maxwell, Anika Jobson Sade Bully, Guy Thorne. Their commitment to the stage and to their own honesty when they’re on that stage is truly admirable.
Internationally, I enjoy the work of DV8 Physical Theatre, Danza Contemporanea de Cuba, Kettly Noel and Urban Bush Women among others.
YE: What is the best and worst part of being a dancer?
Neila: Dance can fill you with so much euphoria. When you have put in the time and effort in rehearsals and classes, more often than not your emotional payoff is very satisfying. Knowing that you can effectively communicate big and small ideas without words and also touch another person’s heart through your art is what brings me back to Dance. Plus, it’s wonderful to have such a complete and connected understanding of your body and its potential.
The very body focus can be the worst part, if one doesn’t handle transition and rest well. Dance is first and foremost a physical art, so the body will wear down, get injured and need to heal. For some, it will never be the way it was before the injury, so the dancer must be able to wrap her mind around this reality and go on living. It sounds easy, but it is very difficult.
YE: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Neila: In 10 years I would have entered my 40s. I will be in my prime and will continue to be on stage internationally, conducting and leading workshops… enriching lives through Dance. My company will be in full swing and will create opportunities for others who wish to dance their lives.
YE: How would you describe the state of the dance world in Jamaica?
Neila: Rich and fertile in ideas, but too fragmented to grow solidly. We have a plethora of choreographers who enjoy the challenges of expressing their views through the body, but I find that most try to express themselves in the same way. I don’t see real opportunities being seized often enough (I’m guilty of this too). I feel like we’re holding back and trying to maintain a kind of status quo. There is still no forum for dialogue and cooperation at its deepest level.
YE: If you could be doing whatever you wanted, what would it be?
Neila: I’m doing it now. The only thing that would increase is international travel and earnings.
YE: How have you developed your skill?
Neila: I have formally studied dance and performance art in Jamaica and in the UK at Edna Manley College and the University of Surrey (MA Physical Theatre). However, every day I develop my skill, as every day I actively learn more about my craft.
YE: Do you dance professionally? I mean, do you get paid to dance? You want?
Neila: I dance professionally, I choreograph professionally, I lecture professionally.
YE: What goes through your head when you’re acting?
Neila: Difficult question. Sometimes there is an internal narrative, images that I remember and that help me to perform the movements with interpretive sensitivity. Sometimes there are accounts. Sometimes I hear musical signals, I observe movement signals. Sometimes I am actively connecting with an audience member or someone else on stage. Sometimes there’s a costume malfunction or some other mistake and I’m many steps ahead in my mind, fixing it. Sometimes there is the joy that my body is on autopilot. And all this can happen in 30 seconds or less of dancing.
YE: What makes you want to get out of bed in the morning?
Neila: God’s gift of life. Recognize that the first breath of the morning means that I have something to do. I’m not done yet.
YE: Final thoughts?
Neila: If there is a song in your heart, please sing it… A dance, do it all over the street… no matter how many people consider you strange. We all come here with our talents and society tells us that we should hide them because they make us too difficult to fit in with others. I say do what your heart tells you and then everyone else will want to fit in with you. That is why you were created in the first place.