Dimpho Di Kopane hits New York
1 November 2004
Internationally acclaimed lyric theatre company Dimpho Di Kopane kicks off its five-week repertory season in New York with "Yiimimangaliso The Mysteries" - part of Season South Africa, a groundbreaking celebration of South Africa's contemporary performing and visual arts, which runs in New York until 3 January 2005.
Dimpho Di Kopane (DDK) - SeSotho for "combined talents" - will be in residence at the Synod Hall of The Cathedral of St John the Divine in New York City, staging four productions until 28 November:
- "Yiimimangaliso The Mysteries", which opened on 29 October.
- The world premiere of "Ikumankanikazi ye Khephu", a South African rendition of the classic fairy tale "The Snow Queen" by Hans Christian Andersen.
- The world premiere of "U-Carmen", a Xhosa version of Bizet’s opera.
- "Ibali loo Tsotsi", a different look at John Gay's "The Beggar's Opera".
Season South Africa is supported by Spier, one of South Africa's
major nodes for the arts, and the International Marketing Council of South Africa, an agency established to promote the country's brand value.
Founded in 2000, DDK provides opportunities for South Africans to develop their musical performance talents and to promote South Africa's lyrical theatre talent at home and abroad.
The company is made up of 40 members chosen after intensive countrywide auditions held in rural and urban South Africa by Britons Mark Dornford-May, its director, and Charles Hazlewood, its musical director.
The two criss-crossed South Africa to listen to more than 2 000 voices in tiny halls and classrooms, hearing everything from Zulu war songs and Christian hymns to Frank Sinatra and Italian opera.
Bulelwa Cosa, a 29-year-old company member from the Eastern Cape, explains: "We all come from different parts of South Africa and we bring our different skills. Some are better at dancing. Some are better singers than dancers. And some are
actors. But when we get here, we put it all together - and that's what makes it amazing."
Four years later, the company has won considerable praise for its musical productions, which include playing over 200 international performances to sold-out houses on four continents.
DDK's hallmark is looking anew at classics in the lyrical-theatre repertoire and staging them in many of South Africa's indigenous languages, as well as imbuing the works with South African perspectives.
The four productions playing at Synod Hall are all eloquent examples of this genre.
"Yiimimangaliso The Mysteries", the first production staged by DDK, was created after a planned revival of the classic South African musical "King Kong" fell through. Dornford-May and Hazlewood had two options to replace it: either staging something established, or tackling "the more exciting and dangerous option" of making something new.
They chose novelty, and created "Yiimimangaliso The Mysteries",
a South African version of an English Mystery Cycle that had been popular from the 13th to the 16th centuries. Plays based on the Scriptures, but also commenting on the Scriptures, they were an effective way of re-telling biblical stories in accessible and enjoyable ways.
In three months, the then fledgling DDK produced a script, built a coherent sense of company, designed and executed costumes and sets and created the score. Hazelwood gathered music from ancient and modern Xhosa, Afrikaans, Zulu and Dutch sources. He dispensed with an orchestra, using found objects for instruments, and the company as musicians.
"Yiimimangaliso The Mysteries" is performed on an almost bare stage and with minimal props. A bale of hay denotes a stable in Bethlehem; the Flood is represented by pouring a watering can into a washing up bowl; while the cast mimic the sound of animals boarding the Ark.
Further performances of "Yiimimangaliso The Mysteries" are at the Synod Hall of The
Cathedral of St John the Divine on November 2, 17, 18, 21, 23, 27 and 28.
"Ibali loo Tsotsi" previews on 30 October, has its press opening on 6 November and further performances on 16 and 24 November.
"U-Carmen" previews on 3 November, has its press night on 5 November and further performances on 14 and 25 November.
"Ikumankanikazi ye Khephu" previews on 9, 10 and 11 November, with a press night on 12 November and additional performances on 19 and 26 November.
SouthAfrica.info reporter
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