Quadrille: Dancing on the "Plaza"
Since its inaugural installation at Central Library, Dancing on the Plaza has showcased traditional and contemporary dances of the Caribbean region. Birthed to celebrate Caribbean-American Heritage Month, this festival shares a dominant practice of call and response expressions that is still alive across the Caribbean landscape.
This year the spotlight is on Quadrille with a focus on Landship Dance out of Barbados. The conversation will be co-moderated by Marcia Jeffers LIVE from St. Kitts and Maxine Hamilton-Alexander in Brooklyn, with special guests Archie Miller and Sam Clarke.
Throughout the program, videos that demonstrate this dance practice across the region will be shared and wedded to ethnographic content. Quadrille (possibly diminutive of the word quadra/small square), is a two-hand turn dance that was most fashionable during the 1800s. It's said to have reached English high society in 1816 and is akin to Cotillion/Contredanse an earlier form of Square Dance. Typically it's four couples in a square formation, figures intertwining with hands and turn or ladies chain, an opposite woman passes each other by the right hand, giving her left to the man opposite to her. We improv when we must.
The mission of Dancing on the Plaza is to buildup SOLIDARITY among Caribbean-American Artists. Dance and music language are particularly rich, analogous, and energetic within the African Diaspora, globally. As the pandemic rages on, Covid-19 heralded a no-touch and distance guideline. This is pushing us to discover, embrace and normalize new ways to present arts and culture programs. A virtual iteration of Dancing on the Plaza focus “dance & plaza” in a more symbolic manner - a metaphor for support, resilience, healing, and connectivity. We are dancing internally and externally - expressions of will, hope, faith... Relief! No matter who you are one of the most important things to humans is the feeling of, ‘I matter’.
Maxine Hamilton-Alexander is a Visual Artist, Caribbean-American and Jamaican immigrant residing in Brooklyn, New York. Lived experiences include 15 plus years of experience of content writing, programs/events/project development and facilitating, independently. Maxine also provides consultation for local creative professionals; assists with grant narratives and programs design. She is passionate about The Arts, Culture & Humanities, especially Caribbean Arts & Culture Traditions.
Marcia Ineta Jeffers is a Dancer, Teacher, and Community Leader, graduated from the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts in Jamaica with a Bachelor of Art in Dance Education (BAE). This dynamic advocate of the arts has made history for her country by becoming the first Kittitian with a degree majoring in Dance Education. Marcia currently works in St. Kitts at the Department of Culture as a Dance Specialist. In addition, as the Founder and Artistic Director of a 100 members dance company, Synergy Movements, and the Head of the Dance Ministry for Antioch Baptist Church, her gaze is focused on demonstrating the power of dance.
