By Emilia Benton
While some use their University degrees to follow a well-traveled path, others get creative and leap into the real world. University alumnus Makeda Thomas used her degree to create her own opportunities as founder and artistic director of Makeda Thomas Dance Projects (MTDP).
Thomas graduated from the University in 1999 with a bachelor of arts in dance and English and founded her dance program in 2003. MTDP is based in New York and Trinidad and specializes in contemporary dance. The program caters to dancers of all ages and holds performances in the United States, Africa and the Caribbean. MTDP has presented work at Dance Theater Workshop, The Brooklyn Academy of Music, Cine Teatro Africa in Maputo and Links Hall in Chicago, among others.
“Makeda Thomas is an artist, dancer, teacher and choreographer of the highest and most sensitive order,” said Lance Westergard, University director of dance, who worked with Thomas while she was an undergrad. “Her work, which is dominated by an investigation of the human condition in today’s society, is profound in its scope and thought-provoking in its attention to detail.”
Westergard highly praised the unique expressions Thomas creates in her dances.
“She is one of the brightest lights that this program ever had and maintains the born-to-it nature required of any person in the dance profession,” Westergard said. “In my opinion, she is what the great ballet choreographer Antony Tudor used to say: ‘A human being who happens to be a dancer; not a dancer who just might happen to be a human being.’ Good dance is good dance and that is what Ms. Thomas and her fine dancers do.”
Thomas is currently in the Port of Spain promoting “Fresh Water,” her current dance work. This performance features the music of Ella Andall, Jimmy Cliff and Bob Marley, along with live performances by Nantambu Drummers (San Fernando) and video by Elspeth Duncan. The performance opens with guest speaker Hazel Franco and ends with a post-performance discussion. “Fresh Water” is part of the Port of Spain’s first Galvanzie Festival, a month-long arts programs series, and is made possible with the cooperation of the Distinguished Patronage of the United States Embassy in the Port of Spain, Office of Public Affairs.
Thomas took the name “Fresh Water” from the Trinidadian term for one who talks, dresses or acts American without actually having gone overseas. “Fresh Water” also describes a person who might have been to America, but has to be reminded that he or she is still from the Caribbean.
This performance is a very personal work for Thomas, as she created it while in the middle of returning home after spending 20 years living abroad. With her use of music, storytelling and, of course, dance, Thomas gives an engaging performance taken from original cultural traditions and experiences, showing viewers why humans depend on “Fresh Water” as a natural resource in order to live.
“What sets my program apart is that I work with a core of four dancers and my work is of my own unique experience,” said Thomas.
She continues to dance professionally in addition to teach with her company. Before creating MTDP, Thomas danced with companies such as Rennie Harris/Puremovement, Urban Bush Women and Ronald K. Brown/Evidence. She danced independently with University professor Robin Becker, Lula Washington Dance Theater, Stephen Koplowitz and Trebien Pollard. Thomas has carried out artistic residencies, arts-in-education projects and research projects throughout the United States and Hawaii, along with the Netherlands and South Africa.
In 2004, Thomas was given the title of Resident Choreographer of Companhia Nacional De Canto e Dança of Mozambique. She has also worked as a Cultural Envoy for the U.S Department of State and received awards from the U.S. Embassy, The Puffin Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts, Bossak-Heilbron Charitable Foundation, Arts International, Inc., Yellowfox Foundation and the National AIDS Council. Thomas currently resides in her hometown of Brooklyn, N.Y., as well as in Curepe, Trinidad.