Dance for a howl of a good cause
ONE of the reasons I continue to love Durban is the unfailing spirit of community that is to be found within the city’s artists.
Not only does our city boast long-standing annual community-oriented shows like Shall We Dance and KZN DanceLink’s youth dance offering, Giyani Lusha – shows that play to full houses – but Durban dancers have a spirit of social responsibility that is unprecedented.
This is felt in the city’s numerous free dance-training programmes, run by such organisations as Siwela Sonke Dance Theatre, Phakama Dance Theatre, Flatfoot Dance Company and Mhayisa Productions, to name a few.
And tonight offers another rich dance “intervention”, as dance studios and various dance companies donate short performances in aid of a fund-raising event titled Dancers Love Dogs.
To be presented for one night only at the Playhouse Drama, the event offers a joyous and rich celebration of all the various manifestations of dance in our city.
All money raised is to go to support mass sterilisation of dogs (and, more recently, feral cats) in areas in and round our city, where dog owners cannot afford this procedure.
Dancers Love Dogs is a compassionate organisation that was established and founded by ballet dancer Brigitte Reeve-Taylor in 2012.
After she rescued a puppy running on the freeway, she made a promise to make a difference in the lives of animals in South Africa and so began to dedicate her art to this good cause.
Since then, Dancers Love Dogs has hosted six shows of the same name in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban, and has raised close to R2 million – all of this cash having gone towards the sterilising of animals.
It’s a beautiful concept, so buy a ticket or two, watch some amazing dance and know that 100% of your money is being used to support the humane treatment of domestic and feral animals.
Dancers Love Dogs will feature some of Durban’s most exciting young talent, as well as popular local songbird Shelley McLean as a special guest.
She will be joined on stage by the ever-entertaining Glitter Girls – Liesl Coppin, Marion Loudon and Lisa Bobbert – as well as the group Survivors, the head-spinning and pop and locking Beatbreakerz, and talented youngsters from DanSing SA.
Flatfoot Dance Company’s professional dance skills development programme, called ADD Flatfoot – a programme funded by the National Arts Council of South Africa – will also present a superbly crafted piece created by Flatfoot dancer Julia Wilson.
Titled Window, this new work has been choreographed by Wilson to challenge young dancers towards finding their own unique voice and is seen as a “window” into their lives.
These ADD Flatfoot dancers are selected annually from various community programmes run by Flatfoot and come from Umlazi, KwaMashu and Newlands.
Dancers Loves Dogs starts at 7pm and tickets are available at Computicket. For more info on both the show and the organisation, phone Leigh Meyer at 071 381 7643.