African Footprint comes home
Lucille Davie
14 July 2008
Lithe, beautiful bodies moved in athletic grace on the stage at Johannesburg's Gold Reef City last week at the opening of African Footprint at the Lyric Theatre.
With a mix of traditional gumboot, tap, contemporary ballet and hip-hop pantsula, those 32 dancers entranced the audience on the opening night of the show on Wednesday, 9 July. It was 90 minutes of non-stop raw African energy and polished song and dance.
The show has come home - it debuted at Gold Reef City's Globe Theatre in 2000 and has subsequently toured to China, India, Europe, Australia, Morocco, Israel and England, having just returned from Mexico, Canada and the US. In the four years it was at the Globe, it was sold out every night.
Some 200 dancers have performed in African Footprint over the years, many having since performed internationally, gone on to form their own dance companies, or perform in the more lucrative industrial theatre market.
The show has everything we associate with Africa: the pennywhistle, the San bow, drums and bongos, gumboots, spears and shields, mbiras, the vuvuzela and ankle rattles. Often the music is produced by simply beating on old tins, or banging two sticks together or whacking the stage floor with sticks - it all works very well.
The simplicity of the backdrops, lighting and costumes means that there are no distractions from the lively action. In addition, the women's vocals are outstanding.
One number in particular stands out - the Prison Pas de Deux. In classic ballet a pas de deux is a dance for two in which the male dancer usually supports and shadows the ballerina; but in African Footprint it is danced by two male dancers, portraying prisoners.
The strength and grace they displayed as they supported one another in impressive lifts and backbends was astounding. On the opening night it was Grant Almirall and Ratsienyane Khomo who demonstrated their awesome athletic skill.
And this time around the show has a number entitled "Pantsula Sport", an imaginative performance of pantsula dance, with dancers wearing bright orange and red overalls, expertly kicking and bouncing soccer balls while dancing.
A voice-over reads lines from Don Mattera's emotive poetry. All in all, it makes for an evening to re-affirm your Africanness with its abundance of talent and exuberance.
African Footprint is on at the Lyric Theatre at Gold Reef City until 3 August.
Source: City of Johannesburg
