JOMBA! Contemporary
Dance Experience: Accumulation of
Unaccountable Awakenings.
Review by Thembeka Chemane, associated with the Khuluma project.
On September 3,
2026, Accumulation of Unaccountable
Awakenings from the Iron Skulls company was performed at the Elizabeth
Sneddon Theatre as part of the JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience.
From the beginning, the performance showed an atmosphere that was unsettling, mysterious, and emotionally-charged. Rather than relying on a conventional narrative, the work communicated through movement, sound, costume, lighting, and visual symbolism. It invited the audience to interpret the experiences of the performers through the body and the senses.
The performance began with performers positioned in the corners of the theatre, reading newspapers while dressed in dark clothing and with their faces partially-covered. Their slow movement towards the stage at once created a feeling of tension. The soundscape intensified this atmosphere, producing a sense of fear and horror. On stage, a performer sat in front of a table with a laptop, dressed in black, with hands and feet painted white. This visual contrast made the body appear almost ghost-like, suggesting a separation between the physical body and the self.
One of the most striking moments occurred when the performers slowly appeared from behind the couch, raising their hands while holding bowls. Newspapers were dropped onto the stage as they moved in a ritualistic manner. They placed the bowls down, drank from them, and later washed their hands and bodies with ashes. This action evoked ideas of death, cleansing, remembrance and rebirth. The use of ashes was particularly powerful because it suggested the remains of something that had already been destroyed, while the performers' movements suggested an attempt to awaken or recover from that destruction.
Movement became the central language of the performance. At several points, the performers moved backwards and forwards as if struggling against an invisible force. Their bodies communicated fear, uncertainty, and entrapment. The covered faces further reinforced this sense of invisibility and silencing. I found the use of gesture particularly effective because the performers often appeared to speak without words, allowing their bodies to communicate emotions that could not easily be verbalized.
Costume also contributed significantly to the meaning of the work. The contrast between skirts and trousers appeared to create different relationships between the performers, particularly through pushing, pulling, and resisting movements. At one point, a performer seemed trapped or consumed while another attempted to reach or hold them. The soundscape shifted from drums and unsettling sounds to a love song, creating a sudden emotional contrast. This transition suggested that even within experiences of fear and isolation, there remains a possibility of connection and finding one's way back to others.
Towards the end, the performers moved towards the front of the stage, picked up their purses and sang before exiting. The screen then showed a dancer alone in a dark space, reinforcing the feeling of isolation.
Accumulation of Unaccountable Awakenings was a thought-provoking performance that proved how the body can carry memories, fear and unspoken experiences. Its combination of movement, sound, and symbolism encouraged me to reflect on what it means to awaken, to be seen and, ultimately, to find a way back to oneself. - Thembeka Chemane
ABOUT KHULUMA
JOMBA! KHULUMA is
the festival’s young writers’ platform, run in collaboration with the
University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Drama and Production Studies programme. The
writers are registered Honours students who engage closely with the JOMBA!
Contemporary Dance Experience through reviews, features, interviews and
critical reflection. The platform is co-facilitated by Clare Craighead and
Marcia Mzindle, who work with the writers through an ongoing editorial process
that supports the development of distinctive critical voices while sharpening
their attention to performance, politics, spectatorship and the conditions in
which dance is made. In this way, KHULUMA functions both as a space for
emerging arts journalism and as a record of how a new generation of writers is
encountering, questioning and interpreting contemporary dance in South Africa.
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