INDUMBA Photos

“Bona la, uyayibona lento?”

By: Mfundiseni Ndwalane

As soon as we entered the theatre we saw the stage had been transformed. The set was minimal; white tape was used to create a box that was open on its side furthest downstage.  Framing the space along the outskirts were six chairs: two evenly spaced on each of the three sides. Lying face down, were the outlines of five bodies. This idea of healing never detached from this journey that was about to commence.

We could have gone on forever

By: Sacha Knox

Sometimes in life, we are fortunate enough to be seized, to be shaken, to be thoroughly rearranged. Fana Tshabalala’s INDUMBA was the fever from Vladislavić’s ‘Double Negative’: “Flaring with light, leaking colour from the raw edges of my hands and feet, I lay in the bath until my temperature broke. At the worst, the water was boiling around me, frothing over the lip of the bath. Afterwards I felt over exposed and paper thin…My hands were dusted with flour: I couldn’t bear the pressure of one fingertip on another”. 

Ritual power moves on the stage

By: Caitlin Goulding

Fana Tshabalala is a choreographer who knows the power of art, and the 2013 Standard Bank Young Artist Award winner certainly does not shy away from it.  His work, Indumba is a fantastic piece that interrogates the power of cleansing rituals and the inner voice.

To connect is to heal

By: Princess Biyela

To heal is to give birth to a new state of being. To cleanse is to restore the beauty in a being. Choreographer Fana Tshabalala, working with dancers from The Forgotten Angle Collaborative based in Johannesburg takes us on a journey of rebirth and restoration by using his latest work Indumba to heal and reconnect with the self.

Photos of JOMBA! 2013 opening night

Hélène Cathala

A call to battle

By: Samantha Daly

Abuzz with excitement, anticipation and creative energy, Durban's Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre last night welcomed dancers, choreographers and contemporary dance junkies from all corners of the globe as this year's JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience kicked off. 2013 marks the festival's 15th year running which, in the face of serious budget cuts and a struggle to secure funding in the international (and especially) local dance scene, is a feat and certainly something to be celebrated.

Unpacking the baggage of identity

By: Princess Biyela

“Our identity as African is not something to ignore” stated Lliane Loots in her opening speech at the opening  of the 15th annual JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience, evoking the memory of our forgotten roots.  The evening’s powerful performances B.L.E.N.D. and The King in Exile both challenged stereotypes around identity.

When bodies and histories collide

By: Mfundiseni Ndwalane

The stage was set, audience members waited in anticipation to be enthralled once again as the 15th annual JOMBA! Contemporary Experience commenced last night. We were treated to two performances, B.L.E.N.D by Desirè Davids (South Africa) and Hélène Cathala (France) followed by Francisco Camacho’s (Portugal) THE KING IN EXILE.

Histories, politics and memories collide on stage

By: Christiaan du Plessis

The 15th JOMBA!  Contemporary Dance Experience opened with a statement on the stance of dance theatre and performance in South Africa, making it clear that cutting funding will motivate artists and critical thinkers to fight against censorship, posing the challenge to the audience: "How will you fight?".

Sharing the struggle for identity

By: Arno Wagenaar

                                 

It was a phenomenal opening for the 15^th JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience at the Sneddon Theatre last night. From an eye-opening speech from artistic director, Lliane Loots, speaking to and creating awareness around the lack of interest in funding contemporary dance in South Africa, to the two most fascinating performances; B.L.E.N.D – choreographed and performed in collaboration by Desiré Davids (South Africa) and Hélène Cathala (France), and THE KING IN EXILE – choreographed by Francisco Camacho (Portugal).

Lliane Loots' Opening Night Speech

It is always my great joy and delight to stand before you at the opening of UKZN’s  Centre for Creative Arts’s JOMBA! festival. It is always a personal opportunity for me to be reminded of what my theatre guru Jerzy Grotowski called the ‘great service of theatre’ - of being reminded that as  (what Grotowski called) ‘holy’ theatre makers and theatre practitioners our greatest ‘gift’ is to make our work as if it were a service to our community. 


15th annual JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience - Media Release

The Centre for Creative Arts and the University of KwaZulu-Natal proudly present the

15^th annual JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience

28 August – 8 September 2013

Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre: 7.30pm

artSPACE (durban) Monday 2 September: 6.30pm

Tickets:

R50.00 or R35.00 (scholars/students/pensioners)

Booking through computicket (or at venue from one hour before)

The University of KwaZulu-Natal’s arts gateway to Africa and the world, the Centre for Creative Arts, is proud to be presenting its 15^th annual JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience.  This year’s festival is a delight of local and international dance theatre that has on show the best the world has to offer. Dancer from Holland, Switzerland, America, Portugal and France will be gracing the JOMBA! stages alongside some of South Africa’s most cutting edge dance makers.