US dance company returns
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is back and if you have never seen their astounding
GROWING up in Port Elizabeth, Belinda Davids idolised Whitney Houston, not only imitating the voice, but going so far as to try and dress like the pop star. She would rip her clothes to achieve the desired ’80s effect, much to her mother’s horror, and style her hair like Houston. And when people in the neighbourhood started calling her Whitney, she knew she was on the right track.
“She was the reason I knew that I could sing. I knew it was there, but when I was able to sing like someone on TV, someone famous, and being able to hit the notes she was hitting, I was like ‘okay, I’m going to be a singer. This is something that I can do’,” said Davids (pictured), now 38.
She sang every chance she could get, growing up to perform on the national club circuit and releasing a self-titled album in the mid ’90s. Davids sang around South Africa, opening for international acts and also basing herself overseas. First it was Dubai for a year, then Hong Kong for two years, a few months in the UK and then 10 years in Los Angeles where she performed back-up for all manner of artists, including Keyshia Cole.
After returning to South Africa to take care of her dying mother, she relocated to Cape Town from where she auditioned in 2012 for the role of Whitney Houston in the tribute Showtime Productions was putting together.
She was eventually chosen from among 15 000 people who auditioned across 12 countries. First there were three months of just sitting and watching tapes of the diva, “to the point where I said when the show started in Joburg, to the cast and the crew: ‘No talking about Whitney Houston after the show’ because she was so in my head.
“Everything I did, she was stuck in there. Waking up in the morning, thinking of Whitney, doing breakfast, thinking of Whitney, singing Whitney.
“I thought that I was already prepared because I idolised her for so long, but this was intense.”
Her time in LA gave her insight into how other people have dealt with working as impersonators and how difficult it was to separate being the character and holding onto who you are: “I think it is important to know who you are, in order to separate yourself from being that person on stage. I’ve always been able to do that, but this time I had to make a conscious choice.”
While she was always singing as a child, realising she could do something others couldn’t, Davids pushed herself to learn the techniques Houston used. This show, though, is full-on imitating Houston: “It’s not just a matter of being able to sing like her, but to move like her, stand like her, everything. Even more so the technique in her voice – where do you start the vibrato? How heavy does it have to be, because I have a very heavy vibrato, but the only time hers was heavy was when she was really nervous. So, I had to learn even that.
“How she used her falsetto with her full voice, where she started her head voice into her chest voice, because she did all of that. Something someone once said: ‘How she uses her vibrato with her full voice is a very special technique, she could do it effortlessly’. So, these are all these little things I need to step into with this role.”
The tribute show started in Joburg in 2013 and so far they have travelled to Dubai and New Zealand, with a whirlwind tour through Canada and a small part of the US. After Cape Town they go back to Australia, “because the last time she was in Australia she was booed off stage and I said I need to restore her name somewhat and if we can do it through the tribute, it would be a special thing to do.”
The show concentrates more on the earlier times and the happier side of Houston’s career. There is no specific storyline but the songs picked are “from when she was the best Whitney, when she was at her peak”.
The Greatest Love of All – The Whitney Houston Show, Artscape Opera House, April 8-19.
THEhighly acclaimed New York-based Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is planning a historic return to South Africa in September after 17 years, with a schedule of 20 performances and a variety of educational activities for students.
This is the second trip to the continent, but the first led by their new artistic director, Robert Battle. It includes a 13performance engagement in Joburg at the Teatro at Montecasino from September 3 to 13 and seven shows in Cape Town at Artscape, from September 16 to 20.
“Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater last visited Joburg in 1998 and we are delighted to welcome back this iconic dance company for a groundbreaking return,” says local promoter, Hazel Feldman, of Showtime Management.
There are two alternating programmes of about two hours each, both ending with the heartstopping Revelations, a US masterpiece set to spirituals that is acclaimed as a must-see. Ailey’s signature piece is a tribute to his heritage and a testament to his genius, exploring places of deepest grief and holiest joy in the soul.
Exodus, a highly anticipated season world premiere by bold hip hop choreographer, Rennie Harris, will be performed to a soul-lifting score of gospel house music. Harris has been known to mix Shakespeare with hip hop, poetry, rap music and movement and is a pioneer in performing, choreographing, teaching and revolutionising contemporary concert dance by introducing the African-American dance form to a worldwide audience.
In Polish Pieces, Dutch choreographer Hans van Manen displays his mastery for building dazzling creations from simple motifs and geometric patterns. Driven by the rhythms of Henryk Górecki’s score, the 12 dancers in this colourful ensemble work create a brilliant kaleidoscope through endlessly shifting formations that culminate in two sensual pas de deux.
Christopher Wheeldon’s dreamlike After the Rain Pas de Deux – praised for its sublime simplicity and intricate partnering – was an instant hit on the New York City Ballet circuit in 2005. Set to music by the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, the sensual male-female pas de deux will be revealed in a fresh light as the Ailey dancers make it their own. Other works to be performed include the repertory favourites Night Creature, Ailey’s homage to the musical genius of eminent American composer Duke Ellington; the spiritually-charged work Grace by celebrated choreographer Ronald K. Brown; and Battle’s own high-flying and humorous solo, Takademe.
He says: “As Alvin Ailey said himself: ‘Dance came from the people and should always be delivered back to the people’.
“I’m excited for audiences to share in uplifting performances, and for students to experience life-changing interactions with the world’s most amazing dancers.”
The Ailey organisation continues its mission of using dance to educate young people through special student performances, lecturedemonstrations, workshops, and master classes on the tour.
Extensive educational activities are being planned in both Joburg and Cape Town and the surrounding areas. Two South African dancers and choreographers, David Matemela and Mamela Nyamza, trained on scholarship at The Ailey School in New York.
Both returned home with invaluable knowledge of dance techniques and style, which contributed enormously to their success on the local front.
“I know that South African audiences will be transfixed and inspired by the company’s performances in Joburg and Cape Town, as well as the fantastic educational outreach programmes that the group is planning during their visit,” stated US Ambassador to South Africa Patrick H Gaspard.
“Receiving the Ailey company in South Africa in September will truly be a highlight of my tenure as ambassador.”