Dancing through Arts Alive

The Arts Alive dance programme is chock-full, with something for everyone on the cards. There is classical ballet, hip-hop and Chinese cultural dance, among much else.
SEPTEMBER may be synonymous with spring, but in Joburg it is also known for the Arts Alive, the month-long festival where the best talent is on offer.

BelletomaniaBelletomania is set to affect a lot of ballet loversThis year’s festival dance programme promises some top dancers, and the selection of dances hitting the stage are expected to delight audiences.

Close to 20 productions will be taking place at two main venues. Joburg Theatre in Braamfontein and Dance Factory in Newtown are the primary locations where shows will be hosted, and they will be buzzing with activity and excitement throughout the month-long extravaganza.

Vast and varied tastes will all be catered to, but many of the shows guarantee universal popularity. Highlights include Balletomania by the South African Ballet Theatre (SABT), which will run from 9 to 11 September at the Joburg Theatre.

Balletomania forms part of the celebrations marking the SABT’s 10-year anniversary. It will feature highlights from the company’s repertoire over the past decade, as well as new works and appearances by dancers from the SABT Academy and Development Programme.

This is by no means the only must-watch show, however. Before the SABT, A Season of Simplicity will reign at the Joburg Theatre from 2 to 4 September. Performed by Agulhas Theatre Works, which was founded by FNB Vita award-winner Gladys Agulhas, the production features the talents of artists of all abilities.

Hip-Hop Explodes

Hip-hopAgulhas Theatre will present a hip-hop session at the Joburg TheatreAgulhas Theatre Works will be sharing the limelight at the Joburg Theatre with hip-hop artists in Hip-Hop Explodes on 4 September. Presented in partnership with IFAS, the French Institute of South Africa, the show consists of two solos: Abdou N’Gom from Cie Stylistic will present Entre-Deux, and Junior from the Wanted Posse will present Buanattitude.

Shakespeare Dreaming will flit its way through the Johannesburg Zoo on 10 and 11 September. Excerpts from A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Romeo and Juliet will be performed by Mari-Louise Basson, Craig Arnold and the Johannesburg Youth Ballet.

International artists will participate throughout the festival. China will be represented by the Gansu Ethnic Song and Dance Troupe, which will perform at the Joburg Theatre from 15 to 17 September. Artists from the Western areas of China, including Tibet, Hui, Dongxiang, Yugu, Mongol and Manchu, make up the troupe, and will showcase the traditional music and dances of these regions.

The production is presented in partnership with the Chinese ministry of culture.

Dancers from India, Brazil and South Africa will work together at the Joburg Theatre on 20 and 21 September in the IBSA Dance Collaboration. Anoushka Kurien from India, Micheline Torres from Brazil and Thami Hector Manekhela from South Africa will illustrate the cultural relationship between the three countries.

Triple Bill
But there’s even more to keep dance lovers enthralled right through September. Triple Bill, New Dance 2011 and Anavarata are just a few more of the shows on the schedule.

Anavarata Dance Institute
Anavarata Dance CompanyTriple Bill, as the name suggests, features three productions: To Be Continued by Bailey Snyman, Une Rapture by Fana Tshabalala and Unknown Equationby Ivan Teme. It will run at the Dance Factory on 6 and 7 September.

New Dance 2011 will be at the Dance Factory as well as at Goethe on Main as it is presented in partnership with the Goethe Institut and Pro-Helvetia, the Swiss Arts Council. It is a contemporary dance programme presented by Georgina Thomson’s Dance Forum, and runs from 6 to 18 September.

Anavarata will wrap up the festival’s dance programme on 24 and 25 September, with a production that will celebrate the dance company’s 50th anniversary.

“Anavarata’s purpose is to heal the hurts of the past through the medium of arts and culture and unity in diversity in practice,” the dance company says of its performance on the Arts Alive website.

Tickets for all shows can be bought from Computicket. For more information on shows and tickets, visit the Arts Alive website.