(Kevin Govender, Karl
Hebbelman, Siseko Duba, Charles Phillips & Sifiso Khumalo.
Pic by Val
Adamson)
FLATFOOT DANCE COMPANY is proud to present
its 3rd annual integrated dance programme working with dancers with Down
Syndrome. This will take place on November 12, 2019, at the Elizabeth Sneddon
Theatre.
Fondly referred to as the “FLATFOOT Downie
Dance Company”, this landmark one-off performance will feature the unique
partnering of the professional FLATFOOT dancers with their Downie Dance Company
members.
This unique dance programme is
unprecedented in South Africa and is a celebration of the power of dance to
shift lives and to negotiate difference and inclusivity. FLATFOOT celebrates
its 16th anniversary this year and has - as one of its core values - the
practice of dance (in education and in performance) as a tool towards what it
calls “living democracy”. This dance programme celebrates community across the
divides of race, gender and disability.
(Left: Karl
Hebbelman, Charles Phillips, Kevin Govender & Michaela Munro. Pic by Val
Adamson)
This programme began in August 2017 with
the visit of Dutch choreographer Adriaan Luteijn of INTRODANS and his
collaboration with FLATFOOT. The company has continued this work over 2018 and
2019 and this performance is the culmination of this year-long programme.
Titled Stand
By Me, this dance work will not only move and delight audiences but will
challenge the very core foundations of who we think can and should dance
professionally.
Four FLATFOOT dancers (Sifiso Khumalo, Siseko Duba, Jabu
Siphika and Zinhle Nzama) partner up with their counterparts, Karl Hebbelman,
Charles Phillips, Kevin Govender and Michaela Munro in a dance explosion that
is an affirmation of faith, courage and the joy of dance. Aptly titled Stand By Me, this dance journey is about
learning to stand next to our neighbours and acknowledging their humanity.
(Right: Sifiso
Khumalo with Karl Hebbelman. Pic by Val Adamson)
FLATFOOT’s award-winning choreographer,
Lliane Loots, says that “creating this work has been a journey into discovering
community and into discovering what it means to engage a firm and loving
assertion of self and identity. All nine of us in the rehearsal room have been
forced to look inward and to find the spaces inside ourselves that embrace the
true meaning of ubuntu, and I have been humbled every day by what these eight dancers
bring to our process.
“As two very special curtain raisers for
this evening, FLATFOOT will also showcase firstly, the work it has been doing
in its unique 2019 “JUNIOR ADD: Girls to Women” dance programme. Ten young
girls between the ages of 11 and 14 years have been identified from FLATFOOT
community dance programmes run in KwaMashu and Umlazi. They have been working
with FLATFOOT each Saturday over 2019 for special technical dance skills
training as we believe that these amazing girls are the next generation of
Durban (and FLATFOOTs) dancers. They
will perform a work choreographed for them by FLATFOOT’s Zinhle Nzama called
“KIVULI”.
And secondly, the four FLATFOOT Junior
Company members (Mthoko Mkhwanazi, Siseko Duba, Nondumiso Dube and Sbonga
Ndlovu) will also perform Fire in Me!
– it is an athletic work created for
them especially for this event by FLATFOOT’s Sifiso Khumalo who continues to
grow a technical style that combines his own African dance roots with
contemporary technical training. It is magical foot stomping work!” Loots adds.
Stand
By Me takes place at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre
on November 12, 2019, at 18h30.
This one-off performance promises to be one
of the highlights on Durban’s dance calendar and is being offed as a fundraiser
to help support the FLATFOOT Down Syndrome Dance programme for 2020. Tickets
are limited and go for R80 each. To pre-book tickets contact:
flatfootdancecompany@gmail.com
Pre-booked tickets can be collected at the
Sneddon box office from 1 hour before the start of show on – this is cash
payment only as no card facilities are available.
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