World-renowned dance makers to share skills and techniques at JOMBA! Workshops
From August 25 to September 6, 2026, the Centre for Creative Arts (UKZN) presents the 28th edition of JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience, showcasing an international and national line-up of choreographers and companies at Durban's Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre, Square Space Theatre, Stable Theatre and the KZNSA Gallery.
Alongside its main stage programme, JOMBA! invites the dance community into the studio for a series of free workshops led by choreographers and companies featured on this year's festival programme.
These workshops give dancers direct access to the techniques, philosophies and creative processes of artists visiting Durban from South Africa, France, Nigeria/Ireland, Spain and Jamaica.
Presenting the workshops:
PJ Sabbagha (South
Africa) - JOMBA!'s 2026 Legacy Artist leads an improvisation session built
around listening: to the self, to others, and to the space itself.
Mamela Nyamza (South Africa) - fresh from her 2026 Silver Lion win at the Venice Biennale, Nyamza's Body & Sound workshop turns the body into an instrument of vocal and physical expression.
Vincent Mantsoe (France/South Africa) - shares his KOBA Technique, a "physical meditation" fusing traditional and contemporary movement in search of identity.
Mufutau Yusuf (Nigeria/Ireland) - leads Your Own Groove, a playful, inclusive improvisation workshop open to dancers of all experience levels.
Iron Skulls Co. (Spain), with Tebby Ramasike - Diego Garrido, Moisés "Moe" Gordo Gómez and Ramasike guide participants through the meeting point of Theatrical Breakin' and Afro-Butoh, set to live music.
Dr L'Antoinette Stines (Jamaica) - the creator of L'Antech, the first Anglo-Caribbean dance technique, leads a class rooted in Kumina, Bruckins, Nyabinghi, Dancehall and other ancestral forms, accompanied by L'Acadco dancers and drummers.
Two further closed
sessions round out the programme: Ugandan dance artist Joseph Tebandeke works
with UKZN's third-year dance students on access and belonging in dance
practice, and the Introdans Education Team (Netherlands) shares its dance
education methods with Edgewood Campus trainee teachers and with youth from the
KwaMashu School of Dance Theatre.
Workshop Schedule
Venue: UKZN Howard
College Campus, Drama and Performance Studies - Dance Studio
1.Wednesday, August 26:
16h30 – 18h00: PJ Sabbagha (South Africa) - improvisation workshop
2.Thursday, August 27: 16h30 – 18h00: Mamela Nyamza (South Africa) - "Body & Sound"
3.Friday, 28 August: 4.30 - 6pm: Vincent Mantsoe (France/South Africa) - KOBA Technique
4.Saturday, August 29: 10h00 – 11h30: Mufutau Yusuf (Nigeria/Ireland) - "Your Own Groove"
5.Tuesday, September 1: 16h30 – 18h00: Iron Skulls Co. (Spain), with Tebby Ramasike
6.Wednesday, September 2: 16h30 – 18h00: Dr L'Antoinette Stines (Jamaica) - L'Antech technique, with L'Acadco dancers and drummers
All open workshops are free of charge, but booking is essential and spaces are limited.
Bookings can be made through Thobile Maphanga at 2024jomba@gmail.com
Open workshops are
for dancers aged 16 and older.
More info about JOMBA! can be found on the website: https://jomba.ukzn.ac.za/
NB:
For more information on the Centre for Creative Arts, click on the logo advert to the right of this article.
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