Ndilapha

Join us for a magical night as Nomfundo Xaluva takes us on a journey with the launch of her third and long-awaited album "Ndilapha"

Nomfundo Xaluva is back with her 3rd studio album independently recorded and produced between 2023-2024. Titled Ndilapha which means “I am here” in isiXhosa, this project’s intention is to express the various manifestations of presence through song.

Having last released an album in 2015, Xaluva’s recorded music has and continues to stand in the gap for her during periods of physical absence from the stage. After years of writing, learning and listening, she returns to the stage to launch Ndilapha, a body of work consisting of songs she has penned over the last decade.

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This album is a culmination of experiences which include loss, re-birth, motherhood, black womanhood, love, and legacy. With 9 out of the 10 songs written by Xaluva, it is her fervent hope that through her songwriting she can contribute meaningfully to the (re)creation of spaces for black women to reflect and celebrate themselves authentically without the pressures of hyper visibility often pursued through reductionist meanings of presence. “In a milestone year for me, this album is the perfect reminder to myself that I am here, in my way and I am enough”.

Elzabé Zietsman: Vier Panado’s en ‘n Chardonnay’

Elzabé Zietsman: Vier Panado’s en ‘n Chardonnay’ 

 

The Market Theatre prescribes Vier Panado’s en ‘n Chardonnay The Market Theatre, Drama Drama and Zietsies Restaurant proudly present Vier Panado’s en ‘n Chardonnay, an award-winning cabaret by legendary performer, Elzabé Zietsman. Its performances are scheduled every Thursday for four weeks, starting from 24 October 2024, at the Market Theatre’s newly refurbished Gramadoelas space. In the cabaret, Zietsman is accompanied by exceptional pianist and music director, Tony Bentel, a long-standing collaboration that brings together these stage veterans with nearly 100 years of combined experience. The show consists of a diverse repertoire of songs spanning Weimar-era cabarets, stripped-down renditions of contemporary hits and a few original compositionsis seamlessly woven with personal stories. Vier Panado’s en ‘n Chardonnay is an edgy work of honesty and critical reflection, laced with humour, through which Zietsman narrates her real life story in celebration of her own resilience, and that of her fellow South Africans. The 75-minute cabaret entertains while unpacking multiple adversities such as the kleptocracy robbing the country blind, crime, unemployment and other social ills. Zietsman recognises our courageous ability to produce positive outcomes despite our country’s challenges, as illustrated by the collective joy we feel when our athletic and artistic excellences are showcased on world stages. “Resilience is not just the ability to bounce back from adversity, but also refers to the capacity to adapt to a changing environment.

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In today’s world, we need it more than ever, and Vier Panado’s en ‘n Chardonnay is a celebration of South Africans’ resilience and our ability to laugh at ourselves (and others),” Zietsman says. For its brilliant narrative and musical performance, the production won a Kanna Award for Best Offering: Music at the 2024 Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees (KKNK). It is also nominated for Best Achievement: Contemporary Music – Solo/Duo at the recent 2024 Woordfees, and has received two nominations at Aardklop for Best Music Performance and Best Music-Driven Production. The cabaret is the first in a series of upcoming programming of the recently refurbished and repurposed Gramadoelas space at the Market Theatre, which can now offer an alternative space for intimate gatherings alongside its core theatre experience. Greg Homann, Artistic Director at the Market Theatre Foundation, described the decision to use Gramadoelas as a deliberate move to reactivate the space and diversify the Market Theatre’s value offering. Homann shares, “Staging this wonderful piece of work at the Gramadoelas is the next step towards the regular use of the venue as a multi-functional space. It’s part of the new energy we have injected into our offering, ensuring that we give our audiences experiences that go beyond our dedicated theatre venues.” So, each Thursday from 24 October – 14 November 2024, bring all the headaches unique to being South African to the Market Theatre for your prescription of Vier Panados en ‘n  Chardonnay, written with sharp comedy and biting satire. Tickets via Webtickets cost R400 including dinner prepared from Elzabé Zietsman’s restaurant, Zietsies, or at R200 excluding food.ENDS

Experience the Magic of Mantsopa: A Special Invitation to the Market Theatre

Experience the Magic of Mantsopa: A Special Invitation to the Market Theatre

The Market Theatre Foundation invites you to celebrate 200 years of Basotho heritage with an exclusive staged reading of Mantsopa, Dr. Jerry Mofokeng Wa Makhetha’s latest work-in-progress.
 
Mantsopa tells the story of a powerful prophetess who guided King Moshoeshoe through challenging times, highlighting the often-overlooked role of women in history. This event coincides with the 58th anniversary of Lesotho’s independence, making it a special celebration of Basotho culture and legacy.
 
Expect an engaging reading with musical elements that will leave you humming Basotho tunes long after. Wear your traditional Seshoeshoe or kobo and join us for this cultural celebration!
 
Event Details:
 
Date: 5 October 2024  
Time:14h00 for 15h00  
Venue: John Kani Theatre, The Market Theatre
Mantsopa Invite
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RSVP: Webtickets or  Mamello Khomongoe at mamellok@markettheatre.co.za

Cion: Requiem of Ravel’s Boléro 

Cion: Requiem of Ravel’s Boléro

Cion: Requiem of Ravel’s Boléro, draws inspiration from the character Toloki in South African author Zakes Mda’s novels Cion and Ways of Dying. In this piece the message of death and its dire consequences are infused through a lament to be able to confront a universe in which the age-old tropes of greed, power and religion have given rise to loss of life not as a natural phenomenon. Toloki, the professional mourner weaves through this virtual landscape of dissolution giving rise to a catharsis of universal grief that will conquer the sadness, the hard reality continuing to permeate the living confronted by death that is not their own, often so unexpected, brutal and merciless.

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Set in a graveyard with the persistent cries of people in mourning and the a cappella music of Isicathamiya in our languages lead by a quartet to the creative arrangement and composition by Nhlanhla Mahlangu that vividly elicits emotions associated with the loss of life performed dancers who are themselves possessed by the spirit and being one with the departed souls and finally laying them to rest for peace and humanity to prevail. Gregory Maqoma’s message through this work is that we need to pause for a moment and urgently think about the pain inflicted on others by the actions of others.

New Afrikaans Play by Christo Davids Deals with People Living with Disabilities

New Afrikaans Play by Christo Davids Deals with People Living with Disabilities

The Market Theatre and Momentum Beleggins Aardklop look forward to presenting the premiere productions of Laaitie mettie biscuits, a compelling new Afrikaans play written and directed by renowned theatre-maker, Christo Davids.

The play will run from 24 – 28 September 2024 at Momentum Beleggings Aardklop in Potchefstroom, before coming to the Market Theatre for a season starting from 2 – 27 October 2024.

This gripping story by Davids tells the story of Noah – a teenage boy who is mentally challenged and dreams of becoming a policeman, and of looking after his mother and his community.

Thematically, Laaitie mettie biscuits offers a critical assessment of how societies treat people living with disabilities, while honestly interrogating policing ethics, injustices, community safety and human rights. Moreover, it confronts what and who societies consider normal, fearlessly exposing our bias against those who don’t look like us.  

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Speaking as both the writer and director of the work, Davids shares, “The question we must answer is: What and who is normal? Is Noah abnormal in a normal community? Or is Noah normal in an abnormal community…?”

The brilliant cast includes Wayne van Rooyen, Stephanie Baartman, Carla Classen and Joshwin Dyson. The creative team alongside Davids is completed by Jade Bowers’s set design, Jak Brits designing lighting, and Mariska Meyer designing the costumes.

According to the Market Theatre’s Artistic Director, Greg Homann, this production presents an opportunity to reflect on the progress we have made as a nation in ensuring inclusivity and dignity for all.

“The Market Theatre has always been at the centre of critical conversations about topical issues. As a space, we continuously stage bold productions that prick at our collective conscience as a nation, hold authorities accountable and affirm our shared humanity. With courageous honesty, outrageous brilliance and contagious humour, Laaitie mettie biscuits will awaken South Africans to the lived experiences of those on the periphery because they were born ‘different’,” remarks Greg Homann.

Homann emphasises the timeliness of this important production, following the crowning of Mia Le Roux as the first ever Miss SA with a disability.

This captivating play is presented at a profound moment when the arts and social reality are at an intersection. As the nation celebrates the crowning of a Miss South Africa emerging from our society where living with disability, inclusion, diversity and the protection of the marginalised reclaim their place in our national discourse. Laaitie mettie biscuits by the award-winning Davids illustrates the power of using the arts to advocate for the freedoms of others, speak truth to power and become a voice for the unheard.

Christo Davids is not a stranger to bold theatre and the representation of the marginalised. Laaitie mettie biscuits follows up on his award-winning Queenie-they, which highlighted the plight of homeless people.

Davids is a prolific actor, theatre and filmmaker who has established himself as a darling in the hearts of many audiences. Boasting a decades-long career that includes roles in SABC 2’s 7de Laan, The Boy Called Twist and Forgiveness.

Laaitie mettie biscuits will debut at Aardklop in Potchefstroom at the end of September before immediately transferring to The Market Theatre where it will run through most of October. Be sure to catch this brand new play which will do doubt make the audience laugh and, of course, cry. You will not be left untouched!

ENDS

For enquiries, please contact Bongiwe Potelwa (Publicist at the Market Theatre Foundation) at bongiwep@marketheatre.co.za or (011) 832 1641.

For reduced price block bookings (of 10 or more) and school groups, contact Anthony Ezeoke (Audience Development) at AnthonyE@markettheatre.co.za or 083 246 4950 or Mamello Khomongoe mamellok@markettheatre.co.za 0815729612.

LUMUMBA-INSPIRED PLAY ENCOURAGES AFRICAN UNITY, PEACE AND STABILITY

LUMUMBA-INSPIRED PLAY ENCOURAGES AFRICAN UNITY, PEACE AND STABILITY

Katanga, January 17, a production set to play at the Market Theatre during Heritage Month this September, is aimed at strengthening African artistic collaboration, encouraging an exchange of stories and celebrating the African liberation heritage. Katanga was a secessionist province in the Republic of Congo in which the first prime minister of that country, Patrice Lumumba, and his associates were assassinated by a firing squad on 17 January 1961.
 
The show tackles important conversations about colonialism, African solidarity, instability, independence and decolonisation through the revered life of Lumumba, the slain Prime Minister. Blending poetry and prose, Katanga, January 17 presents a biography of Lumumba and how his legacy continues to impact present-day Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). 
Furthermore, it explores events surrounding the assassinations of Lumumba and fellow comrades, Joseph Okito and Maurice Mpolo.
 
The story is aptly narrated through the eyes of a former child soldier, detailing the well-documented psychological, physical and social impact of war on child soldiers.
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Katanga, January 17 is co-written by internationally renowned writer, poet and academic, Lesego Rampolokeng, in conjunction with Bobby Rodwell, a human rights activist, playwright and director. Rampolokeng enriches the script with captivating poetry, while Rodwell provides personal narratives of the people she’s interviewed. The third co-writer of the play is Lumumba himself, through his famous last letter to his wife, Pauline Lumumba.
 
Audiences can expect to be transported to the eastern DRC – where ‘home becomes the mouth of a lion’ – and be exposed to the lived realities of the Congolese people, while touring the African liberation route. Additionally, the play triggers moments of deep reflection about the role of former colonial powers in the scramble for Africa’s resources, and the realisation of an African renaissance built on the strong pillars of good governance, democracy, unity, trade, economic transformation and peace, among others.
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The production is directed by Khutjo Green (who is also cast member) and co-written by Bobby Rodwell. According to Rodwell, Katanga, January 17 attempts to speak to the complex history and precariousness of life in the DRC as illustrated by the living descendants of Lumumba and Okito. “We are the children of war,” says Juliana Lumumba, daughter of Patrice Lumumba. “As my father ran in 1961, when his father, Joseph Okito was assassinated, so the children of the Congo are still running,” adds Joseph Okito’s grandson.
 
Katanga, January 17 is told in English, Ki-Swahili, Lingala and French. It features a proudly pan-African cast of South African and Congolese thespians. The South Africans in the cast are much-loved actors, Billy Langa, Khutjo Green and Thabo Malema. Billy recently featured in Poet-O-Type at the Market Theatre, while Khutjo Green was seen in Ka Lebitso La Moya at this year’s National Arts Festival.
 
Cameroonian actor Nji Alain, who is now living in South Africa, complete the pan-African cast. 
 
Co-writer, Lesego Rampolokeng, is widely published across genres with well received poetry collections such as Horns for Hondo (1990), Talking Rain (1993), The Bavino Sermons (1999), Head on Fire (2012) as well as A Half Century Thing (2015), among others. Lesego has also penned three novels – Blackheart (2004), Whiteheart (2005) and Bird-Monk Seding (2018) – and stage plays such as Bantu Ghost: A Stream of (Black) Unconsciousness and Fanon’s Children, in addition to contributing to many other plays.
 
Bobby Rodwell is the Founder and Director of pioneering theatre company, mehlo-maya (eye-to-the-sun) through which she has produced several acclaimed theatre pieces based on personal narratives. Her work includes The Story I Am About to Tell based on the Bishop Desmond Tutu-led Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) hearings where victims and perpetrators shared personal stories of atrocities under Apartheid. Other works include flipping the script (2007) and Theatre on Trains (2011), which both focused on gender-based violence in the home, public spaces and on trains. In Frontières (2021), Rodwell shone a light on personal stories of migration with African migrants taking centre stage in a well-received production which took place at the Market Theatre.
 
Don’t miss this dynamic cast as they weave together a narrative that, through movement and text, reveals a critical moment in the history of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and its significance to the African continent.
 
For enquiries, please contact Bongiwe Potelwa (Publicist at the Market Theatre Foundation) at bongiwep@marketheatre.co.za or (011) 832 1641 ext 224.
 
For reduced price block bookings (of 10 or more) and school groups, contact Anthony Ezeoke (Audience Development) at AnthonyE@markettheatre.co.za or 083 246 4950 or Mamello Khomongoe mamellok@markettheatre.co.za 0815729612

INTERNATIONAL DANCE FESTIVAL HEADS FROM DURBAN TO JOBURG

INTERNATIONAL DANCE FESTIVAL HEADS FROM DURBAN TO JOBURG

As part of celebrating a 2nd year of partnership, the Centre for Creative Arts and the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Festival is delighted to continue to work with the Market Theatre to collaborate in sharing a smaller and carefully curated “JOMBA! @ THE MARKET” following the Durban festival in September. Four selected local and international dance companies will travel onto Johannesburg and the Market Theatre and will feature in a week-long celebration of some of the world’s most profound and provoking dance makers and dance companies.

The selected dance companies include Deepak Kurki Shivaswamy from India, internationally renowned South African choreographer Robyn Orlin working with Moving into Dance, Yaseen Manuel from Cape Town, and renowned South African dance company, JAZZART. Audiences in Gauteng will have 4 days to revel in the performance excellence of this curated contemporary dance platform from 11 to 14 September 2024, alongside special free workshops.

The curatorial provocation of this 26th annual JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience is “finding our way home”. 

Curator Dr Lliane Loots says, “ This year’s JOMBA! is set against a backdrop of both local and global political renegotiations of what it means to be human, to belong, to have a home and to be a citizen of a country (and of a planet); against an occupied Gaza, a ravaged Ukraine, anti-foreigner right wing political movements in Europe, a South African government of national unity that is busy manoeuvring for power … JOMBA! begins to ask what is means to find our way home”. 

She continues, “As a critical dance festival, we have curated a series of artistic encounters that question ideas of home, belonging and citizenship. We have invited dance works that ask us to relook at home as not just a physical space, but as a metaphoric and poetic space where we are either seeking to return, or to leave. We honour dance makers who will be bringing beauty, humour, pathos and politics to our stages and hearts”.

To this end, JOMBA! and JOMBA! @ The Market Theatre is delighted to be honouring veteran South African dance maker Robyn Orlin as the 2024 JOMBA! Legacy Artist for her innovative, political and deeply interrogated dance and theatre work that spans over four decades of dance making in South Africa and internationally. JOMBA! celebrates Robyn Orlin for her vision and practice, her wit, humour and insight, and for significantly contributing to our countries rich critical contemporary dance history and legacy.

Now living in Berlin, Orlin presents we wear our wheels with pride and slap your streets with color … we said ‘bonjour’ to satan in 1820 … – a work made with Johannesburg based MOVING INTO DANCE. It is a deeply personal work that emanates from one of Robyn’s childhood memories visiting Durban. These were the Zulu rickshaws whose “pushers” (or rather pullers), with their elastic stride, seemed to dance with their bodies suspended in the air. In a visually arresting dance work that honours the visual beauty of these rickshaws, Orlin also reminds us, as she says, “of a dirty history deeply buried in the political collective unconscious reminding audiences of facets of the Zulu rickshaws, considering their origins, inseparable from the time of colonization”. In the way that only Orlin can, she delves into the Rickshaw driver’s mischievous appropriation, sublimation, irony and self-deprecation, as she celebrates the Rickshaw driver’s refusal to concede their dignity to colonial and apartheid forces.

With support from the Indian Consulate (Durban and Johannesburg), ICCR, and the Swami Vivekananda Centre (Durban) JOMBA! and JOMBA! @ The Market is delighted to continue its South-South partnerships by welcoming Bangalore based dancer and choreographer Deepak Kurki Shivaswamy. With distant roots in classical Indian dance forms, Deepak Shivaswamy is firmly embedded in contemporary dance making and a search for finding ways to express modern Indian identities – and all the cognate ideas of home that this entails. He presents a double bill titled Vasudaiva Kutumbakam. He says, “this is a concept that the world is one family. This theme inspires our performances here at JOMBA! through the universal language of dance”. His first work Weight of Time invites audiences to question the traditional idea of art having a purpose. Instead, it encourages you to be present and enjoy the performance for the sake of the experience. The second work, Mycelium Maatu looks at the mycelium a network of fungal threads that organise themselves naturally into a beautiful, open-ended structure that supports and connects each other. This offers a profound provocation to Shivaswamy’s dance making.

JOMBA! 2024 also launches an innovative joint annual dance commission by the CCA JOMBA! and the Market Theatre with the express purpose of supporting and making space for innovative and provocative South African dance makers. Titled the PHAKAMISA Dance Commission – with reference to the isiZulu idea of lifting up and holding – this commission is an ongoing commitment to the illustrious JOMBA! and Market Theatre partnership (started in 2023) to grow and support South African dance. The Artistic Director of the Market Theatre, Greg Homann, shares, “We are delighted, at a difficult intersection of global histories to support the work and vision of Cape Town based Yaseen Manuel. His unique access of his own Muslim South African history with the intersection of both personal and political dance storytelling, makes him an exceptional voice in dance.”

Yaseen Manual presents Madha Kan which is a deeply personal journey that interrogates the current events unfolding in Palestine; capturing not only the harsh realities but also the deep compassion and kindness of its citizens. Initially a solo endeavor, Madha Kan is now evolving into a new ensemble work for JOMBA! and will be premiered nationally for its first time at JOMBA! Manual will stay on at Market Theatre for a further week of performances after JOMBA! as part of his PHKAMISA Dance Commission.

As the fourth offering and carefully negotiating the festival’s provocations, JOMBA! @ The Market welcomes Cape Town’s powerhouse company JAZZART. JAZZART offer a specially curated evening titled RESILIENCE and serves as a poignant exploration of the strength, flexibility, and enduring adaptability of the South African spirit. Featuring three captivating works; I am African choreographed by Jazzart’s Head of Training, Sifiso Kweyama, Battlefield choreographed by ex-Jazzart Company Dancer, Lihle Mfene, and Dark Flock crafted by the award-winning duo MANACAN. This triple bill is a powerful programme and will captivate audiences with the sheer mastery that is JAZZART.

Full JOMBA! @ The Market Theatre Programme:

Wednesday 11 September:

  • 6:30pm : Deepak Kurki Shivaswamy (India) – Barney Simon Theatre
  • 8pm : – Robyn Orlin with Moving into Dance (Germany/France/South Africa) – John Kani Theatre

Thursday 12 September:

  • 6:30pm : Deepak Kurki Shivaswamy (India) – Barney Simon Theatre
  • 8pm: Robyn Orlin with Moving into Dance (Germany/France/South Africa) – John Kani Theatre

Friday 13 September:

  • 6:30pm : Yaseen Manuel (South Africa) – Barney Simon Theatre
  • 8pm : JAZZART (South Africa) – John Kani Theatre

 Saturday 14 September:

  • 6:30pm : Yaseen Manuel (South Africa) – Barney Simon Theatre
  • 8pm : JAZZART (South Africa) – John Kani Theatre

PHAKAMISA Dance Commission

 Thursday 19 September

  • 7pm : Yaseen Manuel’s Madha Kan (South Africa) – Barney Simon Theatre

Friday 20 September

  • 7pm : Yaseen Manuel’s Madha Kan (South Africa) – Barney Simon Theatre

Saturday 21 September

  • 3pm : Yaseen Manuel’s Madha Kan (South Africa) – Barney Simon Theatre
  • 7pm : Yaseen Manuel’s Madha Kan (South Africa) – Barney Simon Theatre

JOMBA! and the Market Theatre will also facilitate a series of free workshops with guest artists:

Tuesday 10 September: 4 – 6pm with Robyn Orlin

Thursday 12 September: 3:30 – 5pm with Deepak Kurki Shivaswamy

Saturday 14 September: 10am – 12noon with JAZZART

Saturday 12 September: 3.30 – 5pm with Yaseen Manuel

These workshops are offered free of charge to participants, but booking is essential as places are limited. The workshops are only open to dancers 16yrs and older.

E-mail thobimaphanga@gmail.com to book a place – at least 1 days in advance of the workshop. No booking, no participation!

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JOMBA! Vasudaiva Kutumbakam - Deepak Kurki Shivaswamy

11 - 12 September 2024

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JOMBA! Legacy Artist Robyn Orlin

11 - 12 Sep 2024

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JOMBA! Resilience – JazzArt Dance Theatre

13 -14 Sep 2024 20:00

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JOMBA! Madha kan (What was) no under 16s

13 - 21 Sep 2024

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The Market Theatre Foundation’s Second Annual Spelling Bee to Empower Inner-City Learners with Essential Literacy Skills

The Market Theatre Foundation’s Second Annual Spelling Bee to Empower Inner-City Learners with Essential Literacy Skills

On Saturday, 24 August 2024, the Market Theatre Foundation’s Windybrow Arts Centre, in collaboration with Camp I Am and Nando’s, will host its second annual Spelling Bee competition for schools in inner-city Johannesburg.
 
The Spelling Bee is a key feature of the Windybrow Arts Centre’s Literacy and Homework Support Programme, aimed at equipping local youth with essential reading and writing skills, while The Spelling Bee is a highlight of the Windybrow Arts Centre’s Literacy and Homework Support Programme. It is designed to equip local youth with essential reading and writing skills. Again, the competition is aimed at fostering confidence and academic excellence among learners.
 
The Windybrow Arts Centre is a hub for connection and curiosity, dedicated to nurturing the talents and inquisitiveness of children and young adults. 
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Through arts and literacy programmes rooted in best practice methodologies, the Centre inspires and empowers children and youth, driving positive social change in the community.
 
Gerard Bester, Head of the Windybrow Arts Centre, highlights the impact of the Spelling Bee in building new partnerships with schools and community-based organisations in the inner-city of Johannesburg. “This year, we’ve introduced teacher and facilitator training workshops in collaboration with Camp I Am, inspiring schools and organisations to not only participate in our Spelling Bee but also to host their own events. Additionally, we conducted a confidence-building workshop for all finalists, equipping them with the psychological skills to participate in the competition,” Bester shared.
 
Kai Crooks-Chissano, Executive Director of Camp I Am, mentored the Windybrow Arts Centre and other participating organisations while meticulously crafting a challenging word list from the Department of Basic Education’s CAPS curriculum. Collen Nxumalo, Branch Manager of Nando’s Benmore Gardens, continues to lend valuable support to the competition this year.
 
“A Spelling Bee is an excellent way to ignite a passion for spelling, serving as the gateway to reading and writing. Participating in the competition boosts learners’ confidence and competitive spirit, enhancing their self-esteem as they perform in front of an audience,” said Crooks-Chissano.
The Market Theatre Foundation invites you to celebrate this vital literacy initiative and witness the excellence of some of our city’s top spellers.
 
Date: Saturday, 24 August 2024
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Location: Windybrow Arts Centre, corner Nugget & Pietersen Street, Doornfontein, Hillbrow
                         
For enquiries and interviews, please contact Bongi Potelwa (Publicist at the Market Theatre Foundation) at bongiwep@markettheatre.co.za or (011) 832 1641 ext. 224  
IG: @markettheatre
X: @markettheatre
Facebook: The Market Theatre

JOMBA

INTERNATIONAL DANCE FESTIVAL HEADS FROM DURBAN TO JOBURG

As part of celebrating a 2nd year of partnership, the Centre for Creative Arts and the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Festival is delighted to continue to work with the Market Theatre to collaborate in sharing a smaller and carefully curated “JOMBA! @ THE MARKET” following the Durban festival in September. Four selected local and international dance companies will travel onto Johannesburg and the Market Theatre and will feature in a week-long celebration of some of the world’s most profound and provoking dance makers and dance companies.

The selected dance companies include Deepak Kurki Shivaswamy from India, internationally renowned South African choreographer Robyn Orlin working with Moving into Dance, Yaseen Manuel from Cape Town, and renowned South African dance company, JAZZART. Audiences in Gauteng will have 4 days to revel in the performance excellence of this curated contemporary dance platform from 11 to 14 September 2024, alongside special free workshops.

The curatorial provocation of this 26th annual JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience is “finding our way home”. Curator Dr Lliane Loots says, “ This year’s JOMBA! is set against a backdrop of both local and global political renegotiations of what it means to be human, to belong, to have a home and to be a citizen of a country (and of a planet); against an occupied Gaza, a ravaged Ukraine, anti-foreigner right wing political movements in Europe, a South African government of national unity that is busy manoeuvring for power … JOMBA! begins to ask what is means to find our way home”.  She continues, “As a critical dance festival, we have curated a series of artistic encounters that question ideas of home, belonging and citizenship. We have invited dance works that ask us to relook at home as not just a physical space, but as a metaphoric and poetic space where we are either seeking to return, or to leave. We honour dance makers who will be bringing beauty, humour, pathos and politics to our stages and hearts”.

To this end, JOMBA! and JOMBA! @ The Market Theatre is delighted to be honouring veteran South African dance maker Robyn Orlin as the 2024 JOMBA! Legacy Artist for her innovative, political and deeply interrogated dance and theatre work that spans over four decades of dance making in South Africa and internationally. JOMBA! celebrates Robyn Orlin for her vision and practice, her wit, humour and insight, and for significantly contributing to our countries rich critical contemporary dance history and legacy.

Now living in Berlin, Orlin presents we wear our wheels with pride and slap your streets with color … we said ‘bonjour’ to satan in 1820 … – a work made with Johannesburg based MOVING INTO DANCE. It is a deeply personal work that emanates from one of Robyn’s childhood memories visiting Durban. These were the Zulu rickshaws whose “pushers” (or rather pullers), with their elastic stride, seemed to dance with their bodies suspended in the air. In a visually arresting dance work that honours the visual beauty of these rickshaws, Orlin also reminds us, as she says, “of a dirty history deeply buried in the political collective unconscious reminding audiences of facets of the Zulu rickshaws, considering their origins, inseparable from the time of colonization”. In the way that only Orlin can, she delves into the Rickshaw driver’s mischievous appropriation, sublimation, irony and self-deprecation, as she celebrates the Rickshaw driver’s refusal to concede their dignity to colonial and apartheid forces.

With support from the Indian Consulate (Durban and Johannesburg), ICCR, and the Swami Vivekananda Centre (Durban) JOMBA! and JOMBA! @ The Market is delighted to continue its South-South partnerships by welcoming Bangalore based dancer and choreographer Deepak Kurki Shivaswamy. With distant roots in classical Indian dance forms, Deepak Shivaswamy is firmly embedded in contemporary dance making and a search for finding ways to express modern Indian identities – and all the cognate ideas of home that this entails. He presents a double bill titled Vasudaiva Kutumbakam. He says, “this is a concept that the world is one family. This theme inspires our performances here at JOMBA! through the universal language of dance”. His first work Weight of Time invites audiences to question the traditional idea of art having a purpose. Instead, it encourages you to be present and enjoy the performance for the sake of the experience. The second work, Mycelium Maatu looks at the mycelium a network of fungal threads that organise themselves naturally into a beautiful, open-ended structure that supports and connects each other. This offers a profound provocation to Shivaswamy’s dance making.

JOMBA! 2024 also launches an innovative joint annual dance commission by the CCA JOMBA! and the Market Theatre with the express purpose of supporting and making space for innovative and provocative South African dance makers. Titled the PHAKAMISA Dance Commission – with reference to the isiZulu idea of lifting up and holding – this commission is an ongoing commitment to the illustrious JOMBA! and Market Theatre partnership (started in 2023) to grow and support South African dance. The Artistic Director of the Market Theatre, Greg Homann, shares, “We are delighted, at a difficult intersection of global histories to support the work and vision of Cape Town based Yaseen Manuel. His unique access of his own Muslim South African history with the intersection of both personal and political dance storytelling, makes him an exceptional voice in dance.”

Yaseen Manual presents Madha Kan which is a deeply personal journey that interrogates the current events unfolding in Palestine; capturing not only the harsh realities but also the deep compassion and kindness of its citizens. Initially a solo endeavor, Madha Kan is now evolving into a new ensemble work for JOMBA! and will be premiered nationally for its first time at JOMBA! Manual will stay on at Market Theatre for a further week of performances after JOMBA! as part of his PHKAMISA Dance Commission.

As the fourth offering and carefully negotiating the festival’s provocations, JOMBA! @ The Market welcomes Cape Town’s powerhouse company JAZZART. JAZZART offer a specially curated evening titled RESILIENCE and serves as a poignant exploration of the strength, flexibility, and enduring adaptability of the South African spirit. Featuring three captivating works; I am African choreographed by Jazzart’s Head of Training, Sifiso Kweyama, Battlefield choreographed by ex-Jazzart Company Dancer, Lihle Mfene, and Dark Flock crafted by the award-winning duo MANACAN. This triple bill is a powerful programme and will captivate audiences with the sheer mastery that is JAZZART.

Full JOMBA! @ The Market Theatre Programme:

Wednesday 11 September:

  • 30pm: Deepak Kurki Shivaswamy (India) – Barney Simon Theatre
  • 8pm: – Robyn Orlin with Moving into Dance (Germany/France/South Africa) – John Kani Theatre

Thursday 12 September:

  • 30pm: Deepak Kurki Shivaswamy (India) – Barney Simon Theatre
  • 8pm: Robyn Orlin with Moving into Dance (Germany/France/South Africa) – John Kani Theatre

Friday 13 September:

  • 30pm: Yaseen Manuel (South Africa) – Barney Simon Theatre
  • 8pm: JAZZART (South Africa) – John Kani Theatre

 Saturday 14 September:

  • 30pm: Yaseen Manuel (South Africa) – Barney Simon Theatre
  • 8pm: JAZZART (South Africa) – John Kani Theatre

PHAKAMISA Dance Commission

 Thursday 19 September

  • 7pm: Yaseen Manuel’s Madha Kan (South Africa) – Barney Simon Theatre

Friday 20 September

  • 7pm: Yaseen Manuel’s Madha Kan (South Africa) – Barney Simon Theatre

Saturday 21 September

  • 3pm: Yaseen Manuel’s Madha Kan (South Africa) – Barney Simon Theatre
  • 7pm: Yaseen Manuel’s Madha Kan (South Africa) – Barney Simon Theatre

JOMBA! and the Market Theatre will also facilitate a series of free workshops with guest artists:

Tuesday 10 September: 4 – 6pm with Robyn Orlin

Thursday 12 September: 3.30 – 5pm with Deepak Kurki Shivaswamy

Saturday 14 September: 10am – 12noon with JAZZART

Saturday 12 September: 3.30 – 5pm with Yaseen Manuel

These workshops are offered free of charge to participants, but booking is essential as places are limited. The workshops are only open to dancers 16yrs and older.

E-mail thobimaphanga@gmail.com to book a place – at least 1 days in advance of the workshop. No booking, no participation!

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JOMBA! Vasudaiva Kutumbakam - Deepak Kurki Shivaswamy

11-12 September 2024

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JOMBA! Resilience – JazzArt Dance Theatre

13-14 Sep 2024 20:00

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JOMBA! Madha kan (What was) no under 16s

13 - 21 Sep 2024

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South African Heroes Awards 2024 (No Under 13s)

South African Heroes Awards 2024 (No Under 13s)

The 6th annual South African Heroes Awards (SAHAs) is a celebration of unsung heroes. The awards recognise and celebrate the work done by community builders in South Africa. These awards celebrate ordinary South Africans who are doing extra-ordinary things to uplift their communities. On 21 September 2024, the heroes and heroines will be celebrated in style at a prestigious ceremony at John Kani Theatre, Market Theatre with headline performance by the legendary Zola 7. Hosted by actress Linda Njotini-Ubobuako, the South African Heroes Awards 2024 ceremony will be a night to remember – a night of celebration, fun & dance. Bring out your best outfits in honour of your heritage.

Red Carpet starts at 17h00
The Awards Ceremony starts at 19h00

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The SAHAs have the following categories:

Youth Empowerment – uplifting young people through various programmes,
Business Empowerment – helping start-ups/small businesses to help them succeed,
Specialized Care – people who take care of vulnerable groups like orphans, disabled persons, abused people, widows, homeless, etc.,
Community Service – voluntary community work in different NGOs to benefit fellow community members, e.g., community policing forums,
Community Health – health centres initiated and run by community members as well as primary health care,
Rural Development – projects that uplift rural communities,
Women Empowerment – programmes meant for the upliftment and empowerment of women
Community Journalist of the year – submitted with at least 4 community uplifting/building stories.
Community Media of the Year – Telling community empowering stories.
Community Builder of the Year – voted for by fellow nominees in recognition of their outstanding work.

Honorary Awards:

Green Award – honours people who run projects/programmes for environmental preservation.
Ubuntu Award – honours veteran community builders whose projects have produced other noticeable community builders and high achievers.
Art of Giving – honours those who are uplifting communities through art.
Language Preservation Award – honours those who take pride in preserving indigenous languages.
Leader of Influence – honours exceptional leaders who lead by example and have a trail of positive influence.
Rights Activist of the Year – gives honour to those who fight tirelessly for human rights.
Aid Giver of the Year – honours exceptional first responders in times of disaster & distress.
Iconic Impact – honours an icon who has lived and continues to live their lives giving of themselves to others to ensure they succeed in life.
Excellence in Public Service – honours those in public service who deliver with excellence and go beyond the call of duty.
International Achiever – represents South Africa with pride abroad, changing and impacting lives.