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N Cion, internationally acclaimed dancer-choreographer Gregory Maqoma (pictured) turns the story of a fictional character into a dance every bit as expressive as the writing of the equally acclaimed Zakes Mda. Toloki first become famous as the protagonist in Mda’s 1995 novel Ways of Dying, where he was a professional mourner at township funerals in South Africa. In the follow-up novel, Cion, Mda had Toloki living in the US, where he unearthed the stories of runaway slaves who turn out to be the ancestors of an impoverished rural family.

The spirit of Mda’s writing, which connects the world’s disparate people through their pain and looks at ways of healing, takes on physical form in the lithe bodies of soloist Maqoma and eight supporting dancers from the Vuyani Dance Theatre, who move to the stirring rhythms of isicathamiya music as well as percussive voices and an innovative rendering of Ravel’s Bolero.

“This work brings us light and hope that humanity still exists, even in our darkest times,” says Maqoma.

is on at the Market Theatre complex in Newtown, Johannesburg, until June 4. Tickets R130 from Webtickets