DUT Annual Dance Drama Review by Dr Verne Rowin Munsamy
DUT's Drama and Production Studies Department proudly presents their annual Dance Drama season. Each year, second - and third year students get to take to the stage to show off their dance skills in several creative and physically extensive ways.
This year, the students use what they have learned in memorial of one of their own, Alex Mkhize, who tragically lost his life. Choreographed by Mdu Mtshali with assisted choreography from graduate Fanele Nxumalo have spent hours teaching and perfecting choreography with students and their new-found skills reveals itself in the two dance works on offer, both paying tribute to the young man whose life was taken too soon.
Mtshali says: " The passing of Mr Alex Mkhize, our late second year student, has allowed me the space to design, create and choreograph dance pieces that depict the emotional components of interpersonal relationships amongst students and exploring the dynamics within ancestral spirits and daily interactions".
The performance begins with a choir singing to set the tone of the night. Directed musically by Zenethe Cibane they are aptly placed in the programme to set the tone for the audience for the dance pieces to follow. Their harmonious voices were well-executed to remind us of the tragic event that inspired this evening’s performances.
The first piece titled Soul Awakening has the second-year class paying homage to their fellow classmate in a remarkable way. I was reminded of the power of theatre to sway emotions in an audience. The chalk outline on the floor combined with the image of a grieving mother and lofts that were symbolic of the rising soul that has departed from its body had me teary-eyed and wondering about what the final moments of this young man's life could be felt like. The second-year class impressed me with their technical ability as well as the tonal quality that was embodied in the piece.
The second piece titled The Candle, was danced by the third-year dance specialists. This piece, while it pays respect to a fellow student, was not as emotionally triggering as the first piece. All students were seated on stage and then took to the dance section in duets, trios, quartets, quintet and sestuplets. The falling and rising action of the sequence were reminders of the fall of the human body and the rise of the spirit thereafter.
I want to thank the choreographers and all those involved in this dance drama for making performance that remembers, reminisces and reminds us of our power as artists to sway the minds of audiences. by Dr Verne Rowin Munsamy