(FLOOD - dancer Zinhle Nzama. Photo - Siseko
Duba)
Eight workshops are
available FREE of charge to dancers and dance-makers, and associated arts
practitioners at this year’s JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience which takes
place from August 26 to September 7, 2025, in Durban.
Five dance-focused workshops will be hosted at the Drama and Performance Studies Department (Dance Studio), UKZN Howard College Campus, and are open to dancers 16 years and older.
August 27 (Wednesday):
16h00 to 17h30
Sbonakaliso Ndaba
(Cape Town, South Africa) offers participants a full body class experience in
the technical dance training methods of Sbo Ndaba. It is a high impact class
that pushes dancers to think with their bodies!
August 28 (Thursday): 16h00 to 17h30
Barbara Diaz Rios
(Valencia, Spain), a dance teacher and choreographic assistant for Taiat Dansa,
offers a glorious and fluid technique class and share some of the repertoire of
Flood – a work featured in the
festival.
(BLACK by Oulouy - Cadiz en Danza)
August 30 (Saturday): 10h00 to 11h30
Oulouy (Ivory
Coast/Spain) offers an opportunity to step into a high-energy journey across
some of the most vibrant street dance styles from the African continent and its
diaspora. This workshop is a deep dive into the expressive power of movement as
language, identity, and connection.
September 3 (Wednesday): 16h00 to 17h30
Artistic Director of
the internationally-renowned South African dance company, Moving into Dance,
Sunnyboy Motau (JHB, South Africa) will lead a workshop in MID’s signature
dance genre: Afrofusion.
September 6 (Saturday): 10h00 to 11h30
Didier Boutiana (Reunion) provides a workshop that draws on disparate influences as hip-hop, yoga and contemporary dance.
JOMBA! also offers
the following bespoke workshops:
September 2 (Tuesday): 11h00 to 12h30 (Music Department,
UKZN)
A very special
digital music workshop from Benoit Bottex (and Desiré Davids). The workshop
will provide an understanding of how sound synthesis works and will explore the
benefits of modular synthesizers in live performance. Several instruments will
be presented, and a demo will be performed collectively.
September 3 (Wednesday): 14h00 to 16h00:
Dramaturgy: Theme
and Storytelling Workshop - Led by Greg Homann (SA)
Drama Prac Room
(UKZN Drama Programme – Howard College Campus)
Artistic Director of The Market Theatre Foundation, Greg Homann, conducts a workshop on theme, structure, and storytelling. This session invites participants to engage with dramaturgical tools and strategies that unlock meaning, sharpen intention, and strengthen the emotional and thematic clarity of their work. Ideal for performers, directors, and choreographers alike, the workshop offers practical insights into shaping compelling thematic and narrative experiences for an audience.
September 5 (Friday): 14h00 to 16h00
Centre for Creative
Arts, Boardroom, UKZN (Howard College Campus)
Getting the most from your Festival Appearance:
Optimizing your own publicity at a dance
festival led by Sharlene Versfeld (Durban, South Africa), a veteran publicist
across numerous genres and multiple festivals. Sharlene offers dance-makers an
opportunity to understand why they need to pay heed to developing their own
publicity materials, how they can maximize their exposure, and work with
festivals to help grow their own audiences. An interactive and career changing
workshop!
Booking is essential for all these workshops via e-mail 2024jomba@gmail.com.
For more information
and to see the full programme go to: https://jomba.ukzn.ac.za/
The blog can be
accessed here:
JOMBA! Khuluma
Blog:
https://jombafestival.medium.com
For more information
and to see the full programme go to: https://jomba.ukzn.ac.za/
JOMBA! Bonus events
Talks, Forging Futures Panel & Khuluma Blog
The JOMBA!
Contemporary Dance Experience 2025 offers 13 days packed with performances, and
alongside this also offers free bonus events which include after-performance
conversations in JOMBA! Talks, a half-day robust dialogue around festivals and
curation, five dance-focused workshops, four bespoke workshops, and a blog for
interviews, reviews and thoughts about the festival.
(Left: Sunnyboy Mandla Motau: Pic supplied)
JOMBA! Talks are spaces to hear the invited dancers and choreographers speak about their work and for audiences to engage with them.
These talks will be conducted with Sbo
Ndaba (SA), Oulouy (Ivory Coast /Spain) and Barbara Diaz Rios (Spain), Greg
Homann (SA) Artistic Director at the Market Theatre and Sunnyboy
Mandla Motau from Moving into Dance (SA),
Didier Boutiana (Réunion), Hannah Ma (Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany) and Asanda
Ruda (SA), and are hosted after some of the live performances at the Sneddon
Theatre. (Check the programme for dates and times)
The Forging Futures
/ Opening Borders Dialogues hosted by Thobile Maphanga which takes place on
Saturday August 30 from 10h00 to 14h30 at the Stable Theatre, has as its focus:
Rethinking to re-member festivaling: How
far have we come from Human Zoos?
Perspectives from Southern Africa
This opens a space
for discussion into rethinking, reimagining and re-membering how festivals are
framed in the global South in light of decolonial conversations. Engaging
cultural practitioners from varying spheres who have insights to both the
institutionalised and cultural ways of engaging in rituals of celebration and
festival we invite you to a half day of sharing food, knowledge, storytelling,
and ways of being.
(Hannah Ma: photo by Val Adamson)
This session promises robust discussions with artists, scholars, and cultural workers, including: Hannah Ma (choreographer, performer, writer), Niren Tolsi (writer, journalist and arts practitioner), Ongezwa Mbele (lecturer (UKZN) and PhD Candidate), Refiloe Olifant (Principal Violinist KZN Philharmonic Orchestra), Russel Hlongwane (cultural producer), Siphephelo Mbhele (founder Music Imbizo), Thobekile Mbanda (Afro-musicologist, author, educator and musician), and Zawadi Yamungu (musician and music educator at KCAP).
Booking is essential via e-mail 2024jomba@gmail.com
Attendance at this
event will give attendees access to the JOMBA! Female Forward matinee
performance at the Stable Theatre and a free ticket to the JOMBA! Spanish
focused evening programme (August 30 at 19h00) at The Elizabeth Sneddon
Theatre.
The annual JOMBA!
KHULUMA and JOMBA! BLOG is a writing residency led by Clare Craighead with
Marcia Mzindle as part of the teaching and facilitation team. The residency
aims to support graduate students studying dance by developing their skills as
dance writers, while also immersing them in the fast-paced environment of
festival journalism.
The Khuluma runs as a series of seminars and critical discussions that engage young writers in the mechanics and ethics of reviewing which equips students with working tools to be able to write reviews of works that are performed as part of the JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience.
The JOMBA! Khuluma continues to promote a dual language delivery with both English and isiZulu reviews being included.
The blog can be accessed here:
JOMBA! Khuluma Blog: https://jombafestival.medium.com
For more information and to see the full programme go to: https://jomba.ukzn.ac.za/
JOMBA! is supported by the Centre for Creative Arts at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Click on the CCA advert to the right of this article to visit their link.
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