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During the height of COVID-19 in 2020, when the world was forced into lockdown, dance choreographer and teacher Beverley-Ann Ottley went off script and produced a movie production of her company’s experience.
Ottley has led the Alpha Theatrical Dance Company (ATDC) for many years and when the pandemic started and T&T was on lockdown, she initially thought it would last a few months.
The production’s première, Forecast, held at the Naparima Bowl in San Fernando recently, incorporated a fusion of recorded and live performances of ATDC’s scope for dance, perceptions, love, hope and death.
The production showed Ottley and her members performing virtually and reaching shores as far as Japan and Miami through rehearsals. When the restrictions were lifted, the group held practice sessions at parks and beaches and rewarded themselves with the opportunity to enjoy these amenities that are usually taken for granted.
The production also featured elements of human depression and vandalism of ATDC studio; how they used simple spaces to synchronise and fellowship with each other and how they retained momentum to continue.
Ottley said Forecast was planned as a virtual event but soon turned into a production to give the members room to express themselves; since dance is a fluid combination of energy, body, space, action and time through expressions.
The production storyline shares gloomy moments that shatter hopelessness and prolong incarceration that introduce a ray of proliferation and the way forward.
Notably featured was the future of dance item by Ziva De Clou and Arrindell Tyson, who gave an uplifting interpretation from the 1982 movie Annie, Tomorrow.
Cast members of Forecast.
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