New works for Dance umbrella

No fewer than 15 new works will be staged at Dance Umbrella. There will also be workshops for choreographers and dance writers.
AN exciting range of new commissioned works will spice up next year’s Dance Umbrella, taking place at a host of venues across Joburg.

Gregory Maqoma will present a new dance piece calledGregory Maqoma will present a new dance piece called Exit/ExistAccording to Di Sparks, Dance Umbrella’s publicist, 15 commissioned works will be premiered at the festival. They will include Nelisiwe Xaba’s Uncles And Angels, which has been created in collaboration with the Goodman Space at Arts on Main. It looks at the Reed Dance, the annual Zulu tradition, and its impact on young women.

The Dance Umbrella will be staged from 17 February to 4 March 2012, at various venues, including the Market Theatre, The Dance Factory, Wits Theatre, Goodman Space at Arts on Main and the old Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

Also to be seen during the festival will be Exit/Exist, a new work by Gregory Vuyani Maqoma that deals with his forefather, Maqoma, a Xhosa chief; and, Qaphela Caesar! by Jay Pather, a mixed media work based on Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar that looks at its relationship with post-colonial history.

Mdu Mtshali will present Imbokodo, which explores community life and how Aids has affected it. Mari-Louise Basson has created a work called Uncle Stan’s Jane And John Doe, which studies child sexual abuse. Gates Of Hell by Fana Tshabalala will be the third work on this triple bill.

Alfred Hinkel’s piece, dansmetdieduiwels is a story about Emmanuel Bugen, a young man who loved teaching young children, but was misunderstood. Robyn Orlin will present her internationally renowned work, Daddy, I’ve Seen This Piece Six Times Before And I Still Don’t Know Why They Are Hurting Each Other. This work premiered at the FNB Dance Umbrella 1998 and has since toured internationally.

One Night Stand by PJ Sabbagha is a multimedia dance that reflects on sex and pleasure, and how they invade our lives; Athena Mazarakis, collaborating with German choreographer Hansel Nezza, will present Inter-Fear, an investigation of fear as a common human preoccupation. Mark Hawkins continues working with Moving into Dance Mophatong with a work called Dirty Laundry and Desire Davids reflects on her mixed race with Who is This… Beneath my Skin.

Dada MasiloDada Masilo is just one of the highlights of Dance Umbrella 2012Melody Putu, a former Pact (Performing Arts Council of the Transvaal) dancer, will be back in Joburg with a work called Faith, created in Sweden with the Young Fuse Company. Moya Michael, who now lives in Brussels, will present Out Of This Body… For A Little While, a deconstruction of her identity and the bigger world with which she has to work.

One of the highlights of the festival will be Dada Masilo's new work, Death And The Maidens. The last commissioned work is Opera For Fools, choreographed by Vincent Mantsoe, which looks at life in the townships during the 1970s and 1980s.

Sparks says that there will also be face-to-face discussions with selected choreographers about their work. Stepping Stones and The Young Choreographers Workshop Programme, facilitated by Hinkel, is another highlight of Dance Umbrella.

The 10-day workshop will help young choreographers find new tools to create dance works.

There will also be a Dance Writers Workshop, funded by the Goethe Institut in Johannesburg, for dance writers and facilitated by journalist Mary Corrigall. Participants will learn more about reviewing and writing about dance, and articles will be complied for a special edition of Dance Umbrella 2012.

The principal funder of Dance Umbrella 2012 is the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund, supported by the National Arts Council and the Goethe Institut. Other partners include the City of Joburg, the Embassy of Belgium, Delegation of Flemish Government, and Rand Merchant Bank.

Booking for Dance Umbrella 2012 is at Computicket and opens on 14 January. For more information, please contact 011 492 0709/2033 or email danceumbrella@artslink.co.za.