LIKE NOBODY’S WATCHING
The performers at this year’s Dance Umbrella are set to banish their inhibitions and blow audiences’ minds, writes Robyn Sassen
IN the last 25 years, South Africa’s Dance Umbrella has hosted everything from traditional African drums and skins to classical ballerinas en pointe to otherwise naked men in fetish shoes, all in the name of contemporary dance.
Historically, Dance Umbrella has nurtured dancers to find their feet and confidence. It made its own heroes, who became global giants — such as Vincent Mantsoe, Gregory Maqoma, Nelisiwe Xaba, Mamela Nyamza and Dada Masilo who are international darlings — but still, contemporary dance evades neat description. Is it a polite way of saying “anything goes”? Maybe.
In 1986, Dance Umbrella’s seeds were sown in the first Dance Forum at the Natal Playhouse in Durban. Its director Ashley Killar wrote in the programme: “In a country where people are afflicted by artificial barriers between cultures, we in the arts must do all we can to promote and nurture artistic communication … this thought prompted the idea of bringing dancers and choreographers of different beliefs, disciplines and styles under one roof for a festival.”
Another dance forum, more chats about dance and the Dance Umbrella was born, in the spirit of the London one. More than anything else, it’s about a platform: what is dance with no audience?
Seldom is the work only about what it looks like. Contemporary dance raises and rips apart the issues forming the fabric of our society; the difficult stuff, such as homophobia, racism, child abuse. It’s about where you or I fit into a bruised society. But it’s also about having fun.
And so, we might get to see a legless guy dance with his wheelchair. We might get to see a dancer stay absolutely still for the duration of his work. We’ve even seen a dancer dancing opposite a trench-digger to the music of Maria Callas in a glorious piece about love. We will certainly see dancers pushing their bodies to the limits: whether they are pantsula troupes in high-tops, mesmerising Nelisiwe Xaba in her provocative piece about virginity testing, titled Uncles & Angels (cover picture), or others wearing as little as possible, occasionally nothing at all, such as American heavyweight Helanius J Wilkins in his solo /Close/R in this year’s festival.
The 2013 event is a partnership between Dance Forum and the Johannesburg Arts Alive International Festival. It includes five international companies — from Germany,
It’s about where you or I fit into a bruised society
Switzerland, Portugal, Senegal and the US; 15 new South African works, and the free Stepping Stones programme, featuring 30 upcoming choreographers.
The first Dance Umbrella, in 1989, comprised 16 works. It was an aberration: apartheid was still in place and the country was writhing in a state of emergency. Against this backdrop, the world sat up to take notice of the fledgling dance festival that dared to be born.
Dance Umbrella has championed local dancers and given them not only stepping stones into the industry, but also springboards overseas. Steven Cohen became notorious for doing shocking things on stage in the name of being white, Jewish and homosexual. He was a barb in the side of Dance Umbrella’s artistic director Georgina Thomson for his work in the 1990s, which involved nudity, defecation and other shock tactics. In
2001, he was headhunted by prominent French dance company Ballet Atlantique and today lives in Lille, France, with a heavy performance schedule all over the world.
Funding remains a challenge for the Dance Umbrella, as it does with all the creative arts in this country. But innovation comes not from plenty but from limits.
This year’s Dance Umbrella is headlined by Standard Bank Young Artist for Dance Fana Tshabalala’s piece Indumba, which debuted at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, as well as crossover works that meld the input of South African and international performers.
These include I Feel Ya, created with Dutch cross-over dance company ISH, local rapper Zuluboy and dancers associated with Moving Into Dance Mophatong, South Africa’s oldest contemporary dance company.
Another beautiful collaboration, ongoing for some years, is between local choreographer Mcebisi Bhayi and Joey Chua from Singapore. Givers and Takers is an exploration of what relationships mean, in a world where violence against women is commonplace. Their previous piece on childhood was fresh and inspired; these two make magic together.
The truth is, however, that contemporary dance is not always easy to watch. Sifiso Kweyama, who earlier this month won Choreographer of the Year at the KZN Dance Link Awards, once said: “Dance has three levels of engagement. Sometimes you in the audience don’t get the subtleties in the movement. Sometimes, you might not ‘get’ the story. But the mood that supports a work is what makes it happen.”
Being at Dance Umbrella is about allowing something unknown to touch you.