Arts and entertainment

Dance explosion at Umbrella 2009

9 January 2009

The FNB Dance Umbrella will celebrate South Africa's extraordinary fusion of dance creativity for the 21st time in February and March, premiering new commissioned and international works, providing a platform and young choreographers, and opening the door for youth and community dance groups.

Featuring 23 dance programmes, the FNB Dance Umbrella 2009 runs for 22 days - from 22 February to 14 March - at the following Johannesburg venues: the Wits Theatre Complex in Braamftontein, the Dance Factory, Market Theatre and Market Theatre Laboratory in Newtown, and the UJ Centre for the Arts in Auckland Park.

The Dance Umbrella officially opens at the Wits Downstairs Theatre on 25 February with the world premiere of Soft. Choreographed by Tracey Human and featuring Gregory Vuyani Maqoma and PJ Sabbagha, Soft depicts "the secular and stage world – deconstructed – of the Showgirl ... An icon of pleasure and leisure, she is a social institution that symbolically creates the boundary between the good woman and the bad."

Also on opening night, at the Wits Theatre, is a work from Germany, presented by the Goethe-Institut Johannesburg. Hell on Earth, by Constanza Macras, is about adolescence, about hormones out of whack, shyness and longing, but also all of those practical things in life - what school one should go to and what career should one pursue?

Inner Piece, a new work from Juanita Finestone-Praeg, is on at the Dance Factory on 27 and 28 February. The work is described as "nine reflective (a)musings on the haiku form in three movements (i) emptiness (ii) silence (iii) light."

Gregory Maqoma presents a new work, Skeleton Dry at the Market Theatre on 27 and 28 February. Influenced by the desolate terrain of Namibia's Skeleton Coast, Skeleton Dry tackles "human decomposition to the point where flesh is no more - and subsequently no more bones but fossils."

Love Minus Project, a new work by celebrated choreographer Robyn Orlin, will be presented in The Market Laboratory, also on 27 and 28 February.

Mary Fitzgerald Square will be the place to be on Saturday 28 February, at 12 noon and again at 5pm, for Fabrice Guillot and Genevieve Mazin's public space piece Tuning into the Void.

Tracing, a collaboration between Joey Chua Poh Yi of Singapore and Mcebisi Bhayi of South Africa, takes place at the Dance Factory on 2 and 3 March. The work traces the relationship of Bhayi, a South African Xhosa man who swears by his customs, and Chua, a Singaporean woman who can barely speak her Chinese dialect Hakka.

Also on 2 and 3 March, at the Wits Theatre, is a triple bill featuring the Tami Dance Company/Nimrod Freed from Israel and Ntsoana Dance Company from South Africa.

Sifiso Kweyama will premiere Watermelon, which brings the stories of unemployed people to light through dance, at the Dance Factory on 4 and 5 March.

Inkomati (Dis)cord, a new collaborative work from South African Boyzie Cekwana and Mozambican Panaibra Gabriel Canda, can be seen in the Wits Downstairs Theatre on 4 and 5 March.

At the Wits Theatre on the same dates is a triple bill featuring (Un)spoken conversations by Mzansi Productions, Blink - Bling, Blackout by Songezo Mchilizeli, and Under Move 1524 by Mamela Nyamza.

In the FNB Gala programme, on at the UJ Centre for the Arts on 5 March, FNB celebrates its long-standing partnership with the Dance Umbrella by presenting a selection of works taken from the past 21 years of the festival.

At The Wits Theatre on 9 and 10 March there is a double bill programme featuring Moving into To Dance Mophatong with Viiiiiite/Besame mucho, choreographed by Michel Kelemenis of France.

Peter van Heerden returns to the Dance Umbrella with a new work, Out of the eater came forth meat out of the strong came sweet, on at the Wits Downstairs Theatre on 9 and 10 March.

A triple bill at the Dance Factory on 11 and 12 March features Unravelling ... Carmen by Dada Masilo, Feel the Presence by Lawrence Ncube, and Je Suis Chien by Gaby Saranouffi.

Zebra, a new collaboration between PJ Sabbagha from South Africa's Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative and Ivan Estegneev from Russia's Dialogue Dance Company and School, will be on at the Wits Theatre on 11 and 12 March. In Zebra, an all-male company will challenge the preconceptions around the role and identity of men involved in contemporary dance and the arts.

To be Deprived of One's Nature is a Terrible Loss, a collaborative work performed by Ntombi Gasa, Julia Rainham, Noxolo Rushualang and Amara Gasa, will be on at the Wits Downstairs Theatre on 13 and 14 March.

The final programme will be a mixed bill at the Wits Theatre on 13 and 14 March, featuring Invocation by Luyanda Sidiya, Motho Mang - Ke Mang by Itumeleng Mokgope, and Akundlela Engayi Ekhaya by Sifiso Majola.

Tickets for the FNB Dance Umbrella are available at the door or can be booked through Strictly Tickets. Prices range from R60 to R100, with concessions/block bookings and subscription tickets available.

For more information, visit FNB Dance Umbrella.

SAinfo reporter