The Drama and Performance Studies programme of UKZN
Pietermaritzburg will present an evening of New
Movement: a programme of Contemporary Dance and Physical Theatre performed
in three different venues in the Hexagon Complex. The evening promises an
exciting and innovative presentation of physical movement and dance in the
exploration of various issues and concepts. The programme is directed by
Pumelela ‘Push’ Nqelenga with choreography by a selection of postgraduate
students. The audience will move through various venues as they experience a
New Movement. The four pieces that make up the programme are:
Xeno: Created by Pumelela ‘Push’ Nqelenga and cast
with text by Louise Buchler.
Xeno is a physical
theatre production that is interested in the construction of otherness. ‘I was
curious as to how we develop notions of otherness amongst each other. How do we
in intimate spaces shift from familiar to strange?’ says Nqelenga, lecturer in
Drama and Performances Studies at UKZN and specialist in physical theatre.
On a socio -political scale, Xenophobia affects all South
Africans. Xenophobia is not just an attitude towards immigrants, it is (in most
cases) an action of violence (Harris: 2002) towards difference.
She continues: ‘I wanted to deconstruct this word and its
meaning in Xeno. Before we fear, we
first identify what is foreign and in doing so we begin to associate ‘foreign’
with danger, hate and violence. How do we get there? Why does fear surface when
we experience difference?’
Xeno is located in
the social, the personal and in dance language. Xeno is in strangeness and manifests in the spaces of uncertainty
and difference. There is an attempt in Xeno,
to take different mediums; body, sound, text and language, placed them together
in a space where they can disrupt each other and in doing still be...OK. “Xeno is an organic production. It is a
research of us and how our bodies react to foreign experiences. Xeno is political and absolutely
personal,” adds Nqelenga.
Emb[RACE]: Choreographed
by JC Zondi
“On a whole day trip to the National Arts Festival in 2014,
I experienced a different emotional side of my male friends. six males sang
Beyoncé songs, reminisced about old times, danced and shared their feelings,”
says choreographer JC Zondi. “On this trip I experienced the concerns that
males shared, and the humour that is common to them. However I also saw the
recklessness of males. How they succumb to peer pressure. It is all of this
that inspired me to devise a work about the feminine side of the male.”
This work looks at the stereotypical generalisation of the
emotionally constipated male. It looks at vulnerability, grace, humour,
tenderness and insecurities of the male person. Should he embrace his feminine
side? Exploring contrasting emotions, the piece ask questions such as: Should
men hug each other? Stare at each other in the eyes past an amount of time?
Admire each other’s looks? Talk while peeing? Who writes the rules, and why are
they so easily accepted by men.
Silent Cries: Choreographed
by: Brenda Cele
Human trafficking is a worldwide crime which is not as
highly recognized as other criminal activities such as prostitution, drug
dealing, abuse and rape, but the trade can be seen as an instigator of many of
these. Human trafficking is a conglomerate of drug dealing, abuse, rape and
prostitution. Corruption is at the centre of this trade which is thriving and
progressing annually. Trafficking is a lucrative industry representing an
estimated 32billion per year in international trade. Mexico, Brazil, India and
Africa are some of the leading areas in this trade.
Silent Cries looks
at the dynamics of this issue particularly focusing on how females are affected.
The aim of this piece is to make the audience aware of human trafficking and
raises the questions: Who should be helping the victims of those who are human
trafficked? Is it the family? Community or government? It hopes to create an
urgency about this issue, and provoke the audience to act.
5th Element: Choreographed
by Brandon Bosch
“Existence is
movement. Action is movement. Existence is defined by the rhythm of forces in
natural balance. (...) It is our appreciation for dance that allows us to see
clearly the rhythms of nature and to take natural rhythm to a plane of
well-organised art and culture.” Rudolf Laban
We are all aware of the four natural elements that ‘govern’
life, but what happens when you combine these elements: earth, air, water and fire?
5th Element is an experimental
movement venture that explores the search for the individual self, through
modern contemporary dance and fragmented movement. This work attempts to
explore the idea of the feminine body verses the masculine, showing how society
perceives the female form. But what if the roles are reversed? It is this idea
that creates the Ether, the universe, a personal universe of an individual
self, discovering and journeying through one’s own abilities while working with
forces that can either break down or build up the individual being.
New Movement runs on
October 22 and 23 at 18h00 at the Hexagon Theatre on the University of
KwaZulu-Natal Pietermaritzburg campus. Performances are free.
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