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JOMBA!

The Market Theatre in partnership with the Centre for Creative Arts presents the 3rd annual JOMBA! @ The Market, bringing together an evocative programme of contemporary dance works that speak to personal, political, and ancestral journeys across Africa and beyond.

Featuring four bold choreographic voices, this year’s festival created by Lliane Loots includes KANYAR epilogue, a haunting solo by Didier Boutiana (Reunion), which continues the introspective search for self and spirit in a shifting world. SboNdabaDance (Cape Town), under the direction of Legacy Artist Sbonakaliso Ndaba, presents In SEARCH OF OUR HUMANITY – a stirring work that interrogates South Africa’s historical and spiritual evolution through dance.

In a powerful double bill, Standard Bank Young Artist for 2025, Asanda Ruda, explores Afro-contemporary forms in KEMET – BLACK LANDS, a solo rooted in ancestral memory and self-emancipation, and ALKAMAL WALKAMAL ALMUTLAQ, a trio meditating on healing, spirit, and love. Rounding off the programme is Flatfoot Dance Company (Durban) with BODIES OF WATER, a lyrical reflection on climate justice and survival, drawing on the metaphor of water to explore personal and political embodiment.

 

Together, these works offer audiences an opportunity to experience movement, storytelling, and ritual at the intersection of identity, ecology, and resilience.

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

  1. Tuesday 9 September: 4 – 5.30pm with Didier Boutiana (Reunion)

Enjoy a workshop that draws on such disparate influences as hip-hop, yoga and contemporary dance as you find your own groove and self-expression in this workshop.

  1. Thursday 11 September: 4 – 5.30pm with Sbonakaliso Ndaba (Cape Town, South Africa)

This workshop offers participants a full body class experience in the technical dance training methods of Sbo Ndaba. It is a high impact class that pushes dancers to think with their bodies!

  1. Saturday 13 September: 10am – 11.30am with Asanda Ruda

This class is an open, free-flow contemporary dance session infused with elements of African cultural dance and hip hop. This unique blend creates a space for participants to explore grounded, expressive movement rooted in identity, rhythm, and improvisation. Dancers of all levels are encouraged to connect with their bodies and the collective energy of the space in a vibrant and liberating dance experience.

  1. Saturday 13 September: 4 – 5.30pm with Sifiso Khumalo and FLATFOOT DANCE COMPANY

Enjoy a deeply grounding contemporary dance class in a growing exploration of what FLATFOOT calls its “African Release’. Sifiso Khumalo offers an embodied class that will challenge and delight. Look out for a special sharing of some of the repertoire of BODIES OF WATER, working with live musicians.

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 2024jomba@gmail.com to book a place – at least 1 days in advance of the workshop. No booking, no participation!

 

JOMBA! KANYAR Epilogue

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JOMBA! Asanda Ruda

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JOMBA! Bodies of Water

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JOMBA! In Search of Our Humanity

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