Masterclasses from New York… with love US dance ambassadors have a warm history with South Africa dating back to the 1990s, writes Theresa Smith
IN NEW York for a conference in the 1990s, Mannie Manim was whisked away to the top floor of a hotel overlooking Central Park to meet the leading lights of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater company. He was introduced to them as someone who could help organise a trip to South Africa, which he did. Manim had seen them perform two decades earlier and was happy for the chance to be involved with a company he greatly admired.
When The Market Theatre opened in the ’70s, he had the opportunity to travel to the US courtesy of its State Department and made some valuable contacts in the theatre world. But, the moment that really stuck with him was watching the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater company perform at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
“I fell in love. They’re just the most wonderful company,” he recalls.
“They were doing on stage what I dreamt and hoped we would be doing by starting The Market Theatre – that we would become a place where all our people could flourish, because they’re a company that tore down colour barriers in their work and by their work, and they were just doing it.
“So for me it was a dream come true, to be able to see them, and I thought it would be wonderful to work with them.”
Company founder Alvin Ailey is credited with popularising modern dance and revolutionising the participation of African American dancers in 20th century dance in the US. Today the company he started in 1958 is often seen as an American cultural ambassador to the world because of their extensive touring.
Following their meeting with Manim, the company toured Joburg in 1997, playing for 10 sold-out days at what was then the Civic Centre. That was the beginning of a long and fruitful relationship with Manim, who now fulfils the role of consultant on the company’s outreach programme in South Africa.
“Over the years, as they grew, I became part of the family and they kept me in the loop about what they were doing,” he says.
When they finally got around to organising a new South African trip, Manim was only too eager to meet up with them in New York again – this time because he was taking part in the Ubuntu Festival at Carnegie Hall, working on a production based on the life of Nat Nakasa.
“The outreach thing came up, and that’s an area that’s important to me. I’ve spent my life building up contacts. They just wanted to get as much done as possible.”
He helped to identify which dance schools and companies would be able to host masterclasses, workshops and lecture demonstrations, and when the company hit Joburg on Wednesday they started an extensive programme.
The dancers present the classes, “which is part of the thrill and also what makes the scheduling so complex”, explains Manim.
Already the feedback from Joburg workshops has been positive: “It was inspirational. The dancers were excited and full of the will to do more things.
“I think it plants seeds, and that’s all we can hope for. One hopes that in the fullness of time, these grow.
“We have a direct product in Cape Town of the workshops and the company in the form of Mamela Nyamza. The first time they were here they had the funds to award bursaries, and she was one of three people who went to them for a two-year stint.
“She is going to be present at the Zama Dance School workshops in Gugulethu,” says Manim.
“Workshops and classes like these take you to another level and give people a belief in what they’re doing.
“The whole company is a role model, just as each individual dancer is. They also teach our dancers how to take what they learnt and make it their own, the way Mamela has.
“Alvin Ailey was known for saying ‘dance comes from the people and we must give it back to the people’.
He was an extraordinary, wonderful man and his ethos pervades the company. It’s not a choice; if you join Alvin Ailey, this is what you sign up for.
“And, it goes both ways – it inspires the Ailey people and it gives them a chance to meet people and build relationships,” says Manim.
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s season of performance in Cape Town runs at Artscape Opera House from September 16 to 20.
Tickets: R100 to R475 from Computicket or the Artscape box office on 021 421 7695. Check www.computicket.com for more information
GTUESDAY SEPTEMBER 8
2015