(Pic by Val Adamson Photography)
All the dancers are students and they are dancing their
hearts out. (Review by Philisiwe Twijnstra)
Durban University of Technology’s
(DUT) Drama and Production Studies Department presents the Annual Dance
Production, a season of contemporary dance entitled Boundaries.
Boundaries
involves all second-year and third-year Theatre Dance specialists and showcases
new works by Durban based choreographers: Mdu Mtshali and Tshediso Kabulu.
The dance pieces were titled Lets it go by Thando Mbanjwa; Eye
in The Sky by Mdu Mtshali; HIV and
LIVING workshopped by the students, and Act
of Courage by Tshepiso Kabulu.
I concur with Mdu Mtshali when he says the pieces address
issues of high unemployment rates, inequality, land ownership and poverty. The
audience had a night full of beautiful high kicks and back flips. I watched all
four pieces, all different yet equally emotionally grapping.
The pieces weaved poetry, music and movement. However it was
the movement, the language of the body, and rhythm that spoke more volumes. The
choreographers did a great job, the floor pattern work and the sharp eye in
using body, space and the choice of music.
At times you get lost in an individual dance because of the
presence in their eyes. It was haunting. The pieces become a community. A
community of pain and solution, a community of finding self and re-owning what
belongs to self.
The truth embedded in the HIV and Living dance piece envelops the heart. This choreography is
a conceptional piece, focusing on living and accepting being HIV plus seeing
young dancers pouring and celebrating the idea of living positively with HIV
made me feel joyful.
The sequences and duets in Eye in The Sky and Lets it go
was something to hold on to which showed and explored the courage and the
unfairness. Act of Courage is a poignant
tale told through the dancers’ bodies, this piece dabs in the absurdity of a society,
governmental system and the courage to hold on when you have nothing to hold on
to.
The lighting in Lets
it go added to the mood. A blend of traditional dance and modern dance
fused with movement. The frantic and frail movements pulsated to a variety of
music from piano to up tempo and African groove rhythms.
All the dancers are students and they are dancing their
hearts out. Boundaries still runs for
two more nights make your way there. Performances tonight and tomorrow (October
4 and 5, 2018) at 19h00 in DUT’s
Courtyard Theatre, Mansfield / Steve Biko Road..Tickets R40 at the door.
More information from Lebohang Sibisi
on 031 373 2194. - Philisiwe Twijnstra
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