READY FOR ANYTHING

Fascinating and challenging exploration of dance from Flatfoot Dance Company. (Review by Caroline Smart)

Running at the Square Space Theatre for a short run until the end of the weekend, Ready for Anything - (prepared for nothing and ready for anything) - is a fascinating and challenging exploration of dance from Durban’s acclaimed Flatfoot Dance Company.

Normally the words “improvisation” and “workshopped” leave me stone cold, having come from a tradition of strict discipline in theatre work but, in this instance, the performance is disciplined while being created in the exciting and immediate environment of the “here and now”.

In fact, Here and Now is one of the titles that tested this finely-honed contemporary dance group tonight in a dance production resulting from a residency programme Flatfoot has undergone with UK-based teacher Lucia Walker who is also a specialist in movement education. She is particularly interested in the way movement exploration, awareness practices and play can provide a “common language” which lies beneath different cultural experiences and styles of dance.

Lucia Walker also appears in the programme, performing in themes she has secretly set for each performance. The Flatfoot Dance Company rises splendidly to the occasion, its incomparable male dancers – Sifiso Khumalo, Vusi Makanya and S’fiso Magesh Ngcobo (three dancers who seem to connect with one mind, one soul) – compelling the audience’s attention with Jabu Siphika, Shayna de Kock and Nobuhle Khawula presenting an equally powerful female component.

Lucia Walker’s contained and almost ethereal style represents a strong contrast to our more muscle-bound and extrovert South African contemporary dance. In England, space is at a premium - while in South Africa, it is held in abundance. We are sturdier: forged by the sun, toughened by the heat, fashioned by distances and focused on survival by the sheer multitude of Africa’s people. This in itself provides an interesting element to the performance which is both dangerous and delightful. “The element of surprise and chance is always there,” explains Flatfoot Dance Company’s artistic director Lliane Loots in her programme notes. “No two performances will be the same.

Lliane Loots goes on to pay tribute to Lucia Walker, calling her “a gentle and inspiring teacher”. Watching her sitting in the shadows of the wings, the proud smile on Lucia Walker’s face was evidence of her pride in the dancers as they wove their magic while introducing their individual range of emotional elements into the themes she had set for them.

Imagine this. You’re a member of a dance company. You know your colleagues well – their personalities, their physical capabilities and their emotional strengths. In front of an audience, you are now expected to take a theme - whether as a solo performer or a member of a group – and, reacting on clues from the lighting operator or the given criteria, present an on-the-spot clear-cut performance in a particular time frame such as two minutes. Scary stuff!

It’s a fascinating edgy process which is universally entertaining once you understand what’s going on. It should be seen by anyone who is involved in performance art in general but particularly by those working in dance, lighting design or music! Even musicians Mandla Mtsha and Siyabonga Mkhombe of Woodpecker Percussionists improvise, taking their cues from the movement piece that grows in front of their eyes.

prepared for nothing and ready for anything runs at the Square Space Theatre in Durban until February 29 with performances nightly (except February 28) at 19h30 and extra shows on February 26 and 27 at 12h20. Tickets R35 (R20 students and scholars) at the door with tickets at R10 for discounted matinee performances. More information on 082 875 6065. – Caroline Smart