KINGSTON, Jamaica – One of Jamaica’s prominent Cultural Icons, Professor Rex Nettleford, vice-chancellor emeritus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) and founder of the National Dance Theatre Company (NDTC), passed away on Tuesday, February 2nd at George Washington Hospital in Washington, DC one week after suffering a heart attack at a hotel.
Prof. Nettleford would have celebrated his 77th birthday today, February 3.
Prof. Rex Nettleford
Prime Minister Bruce Golding issued the following statement, ‘I am deeply saddened at the news, just received, of the passing of Vice Chancellor Emeritus of the University of the West Indies , Professor Rex Nettleford O.J.
Jamaica and the entire world have lost an intellectual and creative genius, a man whose contribution to shaping and projecting the cultural landscape of the entire Caribbean region is unquestionable.
Rex Nettleford was an international icon, a quintessential Caribbean Man, the professor, writer, dancer, manager, orator, critic, and mentor. He has left a void in our world that will be a challenge to fill.
Rex Nettleford has stamped his indelible mark in every chosen field of endeavour and his rich and lasting legacy should be preserved for those who must carry on his life’s work – the emancipation of the Caribbean colonial mind from mental slavery in its quest for identity.
To his family, the UWI community, the members of the National Dance Theatre Company which he founded and led for almost 50 years, his colleagues and friends, I extend heartfelt condolences.’
