Shwalane: on dance

Cultural Worker | Project Manager | Writer | Podcaster | #danceinAfrica | 👩🏾‍🎤 @ntshadimm

[JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience @Jomba_Dance]

Mamela Nyamza opens the 25th JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience with HATCHED ENSEMBLE on Tuesday 29 August at 7.30pm with a second performance on 30 August at the Sneddon Theatre, UKZN.
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#JOMBA2023 #contemporarydance #dancefestival #lovedance

[Shwalane: on dance @_shwalane]

Gotta say, having lots of reflective and surprising chats in between and outside sessions too!

[Shwalane: on dance @_shwalane]

#psi28 #uhambo

Day 3 reflections/notes ... a short 🧵

From James Ngcobo's keynote I jotted down the sage reminder that "there's nothing sacrosanct about the original idea."

From Julia Schade & Leon Gabriel's "Nomadism against standstill," I was reminded of Glissant's poetics.

[Shwalane: on dance @_shwalane]

Closed the day out strong with the "Echoes of Heritage" by the UJ Choir with compositions by Mbuso Ndlovu! It turned my expectation of choirs as only singing religious music on its head.

[Shwalane: on dance @_shwalane]

'Isidlamlilo' performed by Mpume Mthombeni offered a complex and surprising tale of a woman who's lived a full life with many twists. Is she a victim or hero or villain or all of the above? The play leaves you questioning so much.

[Shwalane: on dance @_shwalane]

#psi28 #uhambo

Day 2 reflections/notes

Hear me when I say the keynotes keep giving! Through the Centre for the Less Good Idea's "how: show the making" format Sbusiso Shozi demo'd his compositional process using song as archive.

Gonna watch this later https://t.co/WUorzbyGTv

[Shwalane: on dance @_shwalane]

Kwame Boafo's 'Chasing Spirits' gave me some useful concepts to keep in mind as an insider/outsider doing research on dance in Africa.

Natalia Molebatsi's 'Tongo Lam Vuma' extended the idea of what it means to be theorising one's own experience - studying and being studied.

[Shwalane: on dance @_shwalane]

@joburgtheatre Samson Khumalo, Francois Jacobs and Charlie Bouguenon

[Shwalane: on dance @_shwalane]

Looking forward to day 2!

[Shwalane: on dance @_shwalane]

#psi28 #uhambo

Day 1 brief reflections/notes 🧵

Keynote by Mwenya Kabwe was very insightful. The idea of migritude combined with africanfuturism (s/o to Nnedi Okorafor) resonated deeply with me.

[Shwalane: on dance @_shwalane]

A performance I'd love to sit with again was 'Cantos from a Life in Exile' by Makhaola Ndebele. A wonderfully told personal story punctuated by evocative sounds like horses running, birds flying and songs that all served to locate us as the narrative moved from place to place. ❤️