DANCING FOR OUR HEALTHCARE WORKERS

As the old adage goes, the show must go on, and that is exactly what our local theatre productions are trying to do as they fight for the stage while Covid-19 threatens to squash them.

The local schools’ annual collaborative dance production, FUNK, which would usually take place at The Hexagon Stage, went digital this year, with #digiFUNK2021 launching on YouTube this May.

Produced by St Anne’s Theatre, and featuring other local schools, FUNK has been a fixed school calendar production for the past 22 years.

Covid-19 changed this in 2020, however, and this year, director Lynn Chemaly, St Anne’s Head of Theatre, has salvaged the legacy by driving the entire production digitally.

#DigiFUNK2021 features an array of dance theatre pieces produced by city schools including St Anne’s College, Hilton

College, Maritzburg College, St John’s DSG, Epworth, Carter High School and Voortrekker High School.

This year, however, instead of a stage and a live audience, the schools had to video their choreographed dance production at a location at school.

St Anne’s Dance Theatre Company’s contribution, titled Not all super heroes wear capes, is performed on the school’s theatre veranda and pays tribute to the health workers during the pandemic, exploring their roles and the toll it has taken on them. The soundtrack incorporates an interview with a frontline worker working at a hospital in the pandemic and the challenges she faced.

Hilton College’s piece, titled Lonely at the top, is performed in the school’s library and focuses on the journey to success and lifting up others with you as you climb the ladder.

You can view the full production here: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=1tOk9jMRSVU