A new online dance series dubbed Transpositions: Dance Poems for an Online World. The first episode was developed by Soweto dance artist and choreographer, Gregory Maqoma.
In Maqoma's dance poem, students explore movement in their quarantined space while also invading the viewers’ personal space through the screen, as so much of life is now on video chat.
Maqoma has collaborated with artists like Akram Khan, Vincent Mantsoe, Faustin Linyekula, Shanell Winlock, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Nhlanhla Mahlangu, William Kentridge and Kwame Kwei-Armah. He has won FNB Vita Choreographer of the Year, Tunkie Award for Leadership in Dance, a Bessie Award, and the Knight of the Arts & Literature Award, among others. In 2020 Maqoma was named the author of the International Dance Day Message.
Created by Yale Schewarzman Center and Yale Dance Lab, the Transposition series is designed to bridge the performing arts gap created by the pandemic. It features 16 renowned dance artists in a 16-episode series, performed by 66 dancers from 12 dance groups and a variety of genres. The weekly series premieres new episodes each week. Each episode knits together local, national, and international communities of dance and explores the continuous and interrupted dance practices in digital life. New episodes, along with behind-the-scenes interviews, are scheduled to air from February 15 until May 10, 2021.
For more information, visit https://schwarzman.yale.edu/series/transpositions-dance-poems-online-world
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