Dance Umbrella 2012

17 Feb 2012 - 04 Mar 2012

Dance Umbrella 2012 will be the 25 MINUS 1 equals the 24th edition of this internationally acclaimed dance platform and the programme will feature a celebration of contemporary dance, performance art, Afro-fusion, dance film and video and internationally renowned South African choreographers.

The shows featured at the Market Theatre are:

EXIT/EXIST
by Gregory Maqoma
Directed by James Ngcobo, music composed by Simphiwe Dana
Main Theatre
17 & 18 Feb @ 20h30 & 19 Feb @ 15h00
The core of this piece is memory; rephrasing the notion of existence and the notion of simply existing in order to exist. Exit/Exist takes a moment to pause; to look back; to rewind the tape to the days when the tapestry of South Africa was about the collision of biographies.

DANSMETTIEDUIWELS (NO UNDER 16)
by Alfred Hinkel
Main Theatre
21, 22 & 23 Feb @ 19h30
This is the story of Emmanuel Bugen born in Matjieskloof, at a Roman Catholic mission station, a few kilometers from Springbok in the Northern Cape. As a young adult he believed he had a calling to serve his creator and so joined the monastery in his home town, in the hopes of eventually being ordained as a priest. A while into his training Emmanuel requested that he be given permission to work with children. This request was refused as the abbot believed he displayed an inappropriate interest in the children. Using Emmanuel’s story as a spring board we interrogate the Church’s doctrines and belief systems regarding sex, sexuality and its relationship with women and children.

DADDY, IVE SEEN THIS PIECE SIX TIMES BEFORE AND I STILL DON’T KNOW WHY THEY’RE HURTING EACH OTHER…
by Robyn Orlin
Laager Theatre
22, 23 & 24 Feb @ 21h00
Robyn Orlin’s Daddy explores politics in the arts in terms of performance empowerment and ownership of space. Six performers fight over the same space while they wait for their director to arrive for a performance. They are in a state of panic five minutes before the show, but the director does not arrive. Their waiting becomes the background against which the collage of dances is set. Daddy, won the prestigious Lawrence Olivier Theatre Award in London for Outstanding Achievement in Dance in 2003.

DIRTY LAUNDRY
by Mark Hawkins
Featuring Moving Into Dance Mophatong Dance Company
Main Theatre
25 Feb @ 15h00 & 20h00 & 26 Feb @ 15h00
Dirty laundry should be dealt with immediately otherwise it piles up, becomes overwhelming and ends up becoming everyone’s problem. Everyone loves it when other people’s ‘dirty laundry’ is aired in public, except when it is our own. It is what sells newspapers, gossip magazines and great TV programmes. Politicians, celebrities, the man in the street, are all subject to it, and the dirtier your past secrets are, the more famous you become.

DOUBLE BILL
Laager Theatre
28 & 29 Feb @ 19h00
The More… by Sifiso Kweyama
The more we change, the more…..................................................................................................................

Just we by Moeketsi Koena
Just We is a project about the problems that may arise between countries in both Africa and Europe. Two dancers come from different countries and speak two different languages, but both are from Southern Africa. There are the influences of colonization, freedom and different cultures. Saranouffi is from Madagascar (ex French colony) and Koena is from South Africa (ex British Colony). Two different countries and two different political identities. In Just We the
dancers use free improvisation as a tool to communicate and interact with the audience.

FAITH
by Melody Putu
Main Theatre
28, 29 Feb & 1 Mar @ 20h30
A dance performance about a girl. We get to follow Faith on the journey of her life, from obstacles to possibilities… a young girl who resembles any other girl in the world, with dreams of love, happiness and a safe future. But Faith has to fight for her rights in her community and in her family. The performance reflects our fear as the society and the individuals around us change. But it also shows how dancing and music can create curiosity, strengthen our identity and inspire. To be who you are… The way you were born.

DOUBLE BILL
Laager Theatre
29 Feb & 1 Mar @ 21h00
Homodryer Choreographed, Performed and Video Designed by: Kieron Jina
As a child I was told stories by my elders and I consequently developed a passion for telling my own stories through my performance art. I focus on an interdisciplinary artistic mode of creation by using the body as a means to communicate personal truths which consequently explore themes relevant to society as a whole. Homodryer is therefore a personal story. This work is sadly inspired by the passing of my second mother, our domestic worker. The societal pressure on her to conceal her HIV/Aids status resulted not only in her early death, but also the infection of her unborn child. I want to confront the stereotypes associated with HIV/Aids by exploring her story through my own body.

Chant by Nhlanhla Mahlangu
This work honours all the women in my life. It is a gift to my two daughters. Chant presents my challenged traditions in the hope to speak to new truths. Chant challenges the manipulation of nature, the use of technology, religion, tradition, politics and power to the point where our only space and time are crippled and unable to accommodate us.

OPERA FOR FOOLS
by Vincent Sekwati Mantsoe
Main Theatre
3 Mar @ 15h00 & 20:30 & 4 Mar @ 15h00
The backdrop for Opera for Fools depicts the Shebeen lifestyle that was lived in the South African townships of Johannesburg, where it framed the centre stage for some of the dramatic events that took place between the 1970’s and 1990’s. In the so-called ‘informal settlements’ of Soweto, Sophiatown and Alexandra, migrants from far and nearby neighbouring countries made new friends, all sharing the one common goal ‘to find that mighty gold and diamonds’ in the belly of the earth. In these townships, the vacuum was a recipe for crime to some, a political weapon to others. The nights would be silenced by gunfire or tsotsi raiding the dark streets like a black cat seeking its prey. Black cars with tinted windows would be either spying on individual houses or taking young ones who had been left in the streets without any care.This work features music Deconstruction by Andrea Cera, with dancers from South Africa, France/La Reunion/Martinique.