Jamaican cultural icon dies

(CNS): Professor Rex Nettleford, a Rhodes Scholar, writer and dancer, co-founder and leader for 50 years of Jamaica’s National Dance Theatre Company, died 2 February 2010. The Cayman National Cultural Foundation (CNCF) has organised a programme scheduled for Thursday, 6:30pm, at the Harquail theatre, to celebrate the life of this “great Jamaican and cultural icon.” Professor Nettleford had been scheduled as the keynote speaker at the University College of the Cayman Islands’ 11-12 March Caribbean Conference on Literature, Identity and Culture.

“We were shocked and saddened to hear of Professor Nettleford’s passing, and join Jamaicans and others across the region and internationally in mourning the loss of this quintessential Caribbean man, social critic and cultural icon,” said UCCI’s President Roy Bodden.

He was vice chancellor emeritus of the University of the West Indies from 1997 to 2004 and served as cultural adviser to three prime ministers, including Prime Minister Bruce Golding.
The college will shortly be announcing a new keynote speaker for its conference opening on 11 March at UCCI’s Sir Vassel Johnson Hall.