Dancer and choreographer Vincent SK Mantsoe brings his new solo work, ‘KonKoriti’, home to Joburg for one night at the Wits Theatre on Thursday. Diane de Beer asks him about his life and work.
then I am lost. I am still very physical, I am a dancer, it’s a dance.
How long will you still be dancing your own work?
Lol, as soon as my bones say “enough”, but my spirit will continue dancing.
How does creating a solo work for yourself differ from creating one for a company?
Creating a solo is always personal, as I know my body well and I dive deeper into a spiritual realm, with no gear. When creating for a company, the challenges are that I have to think differently about how to introduce something that is not from their own culture, as different dancers may interpret differently. I have to allow myself to accept, understand and modify, so that a dancer feels comfortable, yet challenged.
Could you talk about the use of music and especially, in this piece, both the music and the musicians and how you chose the music. Is it first the music and then the idea/choreography?
I work a lot with music that talks and transports me. It can be traditional music, of any culture, a contemporary or classical composition. I mostly get inspired by an idea, then the music, but I can listen to music six months ahead of time. For KonKoriti, the idea came first. When I spoke to my mother, she laughed at first, as she knew what it entailed. Then the music came, but it took a while to choose the correct composition, so sometimes I created the work without music and finally found a good path between the music and dance.
What does it mean coming back here to perform?
Back to my roots, to inhale both old and new life forms. Home is home, no matter whether I am in France, China, Japan, Canada, US, or on the African continent. Home is home, so it fills me with joy and excitement. Sharing the journey with the South African public is always a blessing for me.
Tickets: R200. They can be purchased through www.webtickets.co.za or R230 at the door. The show on Thursday starts at 8pm. Facebook: Wits Theatre. Twitter: @ Witstheatre1. Website: https://www.wits. ac.za/witstheatre.