JOMBA! FEMME FORWARD Screen Dance Residency 2026

The 2026 JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience, hosted by the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s award-winning Centre for Creative Arts, calls for applications for its JOMBA! Femme Forward Screen Dance Residency, which takes place during the festival from 24 August to 29 August.

Besides presenting edgy live contemporary dance, as well as workshops, talks and its dance-writers - and female-focused residencies, JOMBA! also supports, hosts and nurtures a digital dance platform that has an open call for submissions to be featured at the festival.

Darkroom Contemporary Artistic Director Louise Coetzer with company dancer Tania Mteto. Image by Oscar O’Ryan.

This year’s continuation of the JOMBA! Femme Forward Residency focuses on the development of female-identifying dance artists who are eager to develop their digital screen dance practice.  Having screened almost 50 dance films over the past 5 years JOMBA! is dedicated to investing in the craft of screen dance making and following the 2023 screen dance residency run by Mozambican duo Pak Ndjamena and Ivan Barros JOMBA is thrilled to be partnering with Cape Town based Darkroom Contemporary Dance Theatre to execute this year’s 6-day residency.  

The residency offers space for 5 female-identifying dancers / dance makers aged between 18 and 35 years who have some dance training and have a keen interest in upskilling themselves to become digital screen dance creators. 

This JOMBA! Femme Forward Screen Dance Residency is being run in partnership with  Darkroom Contemporary Dance Theatre (Cape Town, South Africa),  a project-based company which was founded in 2010, and formed as a vehicle to reimagine dance through its innovative approach to staging and presenting contemporary works.

Founders Louise Coetzer, a dancer and choreographer, and Oscar O’Ryan, a photographer and filmmaker, bring together expertise from their respective fields to form a dynamic partnership. Their projects provide platforms and create opportunities for skills development and exchange among all artists involved. They focus on the use of new technology and digital media frame their artistic approach. Similarly does interdisciplinary exploration, with project collaborators including visual artists, musicians, designers, filmmakers and digital artists.

“We remain deeply committed to creating accessible, inclusive spaces for dance-makers,” says JOMBA!’s Project Manager, Thobile Maphanga. “The Femme Forward Residency is about amplifying young female-identifying voices in dance, and this year specifically in screen-dance, giving them the tools and confidence to tell their stories in powerful new ways, making their work accessible to wider global audiences.”

“We are excited to collaborate with JOMBA! on this residency,” says Louise Coetzer of Darkroom Contemporary Dance Theatre. “Screen dance opens up fresh possibilities for choreography and creativity, and we want participants to experiment, take risks, and discover their own unique voices in the digital space.”

The Residency will focus primarily on developing dance filmmaking skills (from conceptualisation, pre-production planning, filming to editing considerations). The outcome will be a short screen dance film, created individually by each participant. Included in the residency will be access to dance workshops by choreographers visiting the festival, assistance in forging a professional image and instilling good work ethic that will aid the young makers to promote their future work.  The residents will also have access to the full festival programme and have the opportunity to meet and engage with professional companies and choreographers that are visiting the festival.

The selection will be done through an application process that requires the applicant to motivate why they want to be a part of the residency.  Participants will be expected to be available for the full 6-day duration (24-29 August 2026) with the outcomes of the residency presented at the JOMBA! Forging Futures platform on Saturday, 29 August 2026.  There is no cost to participate, and a nominal stipend is paid to support residents with transport and food for the 6 days. Applicants must reside in and around Durban.

For more information about the application criteria and selection process, go to https://jomba.ukzn.ac.za/jomba-femme-forward-screen-dance-residency-2026/.

Applications can be made here https://forms.gle/8BcWYQVZgyPx4twf7 . Applications close on Monday 22 June 2026 at 5pm.

Call for Submissions for JOMBA! MASIHAMBISANE DIALOGUES #6 Online Colloquium 27–29 May 2026

The Centre for Creative Arts at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), in partnership with the JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience, will host the 6th JOMBA! MASIHAMBISANE DIALOGUES (JMD) Colloquium in an online format from 27 to 29 May 2026. Under the theme “Choreographies of Activism: Moving Bodies as Disruptive Presencing,” this year’s dialogues invite scholars, artists, choreographers, and activists to explore the role of dance as a powerful form of embodied activism in contemporary global contexts.

“Across the Global South, dance has long served as a site where histories of resistance, survival, refusal, and futurity are carried through the moving body,” explains Dr Lliane Loots, the chair of the JOMBA! MASIHAMBISANE DIALOGUES steering committee. “We are looking to examine dance - not simply as metaphor - but as a practical mode of political engagement—a way that bodies assemble, appear, disrupt, and claim space, visibility, and justice within systems shaped by colonial and postcolonial power.”

Close by …  La rue d’à-côté … (JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience 2024) Compagnie Ex Nihilo (Marseille, France) in an encounter with FLATFOOT DANCE COMPANY (Durban, South Africa). Photo by Val Adamson

In a global moment marked by deep political upheaval, economic inequality, and the lingering impacts of colonial histories, the dialogues ask urgent questions about the role of movement and performance. How does the dancing body respond to forms of censorship, erasure, and the denial of humanity experienced in many parts of the world today? What possibilities do rhythm, gesture, stillness, improvisation, and collective movement offer as alternatives to dominant social, spatial, and political orders?

The programme will bring together international and regional contributors to engage with myriad questions including: how dance can be used as activism, and what choreographic strategies act as a form of disruptive presencing under conditions of risk, surveillance, or repression amongst others.

uXinzelelo (JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience 2024) BreeH Cele. Photo by Val Adamson

JOMBA! MASIHAMBISANE DIALOGUES welcomes a range of presentation formats that reflect the embodied nature of dance research and practice. These include academic papers, lecture-demonstrations, performance lectures, artist talks, facilitated movement scores, curated panels, and other hybrid or experimental forms.

Proposals of up to 450 words are invited and should be submitted by Thursday, 2 April 2026 (4pm).  Abstract submissions and enquiries email: 2024jomba@gmail.com  

For the full submission call out go to: https://tinyurl.com/yc2d7m6v

For more information about the JOMBA! MASIHAMBISANE Dialogues and archive, visit:
https://jomba.ukzn.ac.za/masihambisane-dialogues/

JOMBA! Digital and Live Open Horizons Pick of the Platform Awards

Dance-makers Brenda “BreeH” Cele (Pietermaritzburg), and Mfundiseni Ndwalane (Durban) were awarded the JOMBA! Pick of the Platform for their works in the Digital Open Horizons and Live Open Horizons, respectively this week.

Digital Open Horizons is a curated platform of screen dance films, and the Live Open Horizons platform is an opportunity for choreographers to showcase their works in a professionally supported stage presentation at the Festival. These are both presented as JOMBA!’s commitment to developing and growing contemporary dance in Durban and South Africa.

This year’s Digital Open Horizons jury included Pak Ndjamena, a multifaceted artist based in Maputo (Mozambique), Ivan Barros an award-winning Mozambican photographer and video-maker, Clare Craighead a Drama and Performance Studies lecturer at DUT, a dance writer and academic, and Thobile Maphanga, a Durban-based dancer, dance writer and researcher interested in the histories and narratives of Black women.

Brenda BreeH Cele Pic by Val Adamson

Brenda “BreeH” Cele was awarded the JOMBA! Digital Open Horizons Pick of the Platform for her striking dance film, “Simunye” cited by the jury as a compelling docu-dance film which impressed them with its powerful integration of dance, science, storytelling and activism. Tackling the very urgent issue of climate change through a South African lens it presents a strong conceptual and technical vision which is informative and emotionally resonant. 

This year's JOMBA! Live Open Horizons offered two solo performances and two group works. Jury members were Clare Craighead, (non-voting Chair), Jabu Siphika, dancer and choreographer and a member of FLATFOOT DANCE COMPANY, Tammy Ballantyne, dance writer and journalist, and Hannah Ma, choreographer, and founder of hannahmadance. 

Speaking at the awards after the performances, Tammy Ballantyne said, “The diversity in themes and content was pleasing, with a good mix of choreographic styles and production elements. We used various criteria to assist in selecting the winner, such as artistic and emotional impact; choreographic innovation; performance quality and relevance and resonance.”

Choreographer Mfundiseni Ndwalane receives his JOMBA! Live Open Horizons Pick of the Platform Award from Jury members - Tammy Ballantyne, Jabu Siphika and Hannah Ma at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre on 28 August. Photo: Val Adamson.

The overall winner of the platform was "Sisukaphi?", choreographed by Mfundiseni Ndwalane. Drawing on his own compositions and choreography during his research for his MA at UKZN, the work explores storytelling elements alongside a fusion of African popular music and traditional elements such as amaZulu dance. The jury praised Ndwalane for his cohesive vision in bringing together live music and singing, projections and scenic elements which brought depth to the theme and choreography. “His invitation to the audience to consider one's ancestry as a collective was a powerful visual and aural moment of using the body as a memory tool. His ensemble was focussed, polished and committed.”

Thandeka Maqebula’s "The Silent Voice", performed by Anele Makanya. Photo: Val Adamson.

The jury commended Thandeka Maqebula on the solo "The Silent Voice", performed by Anele Makanya.They commented on Makanya's powerful stage presence and strong physicality. There is opportunity for Maqebula to develop her choreographic voice which displays impressive conviction and focus. 

Tegan Peacock's "Burst my Bubble". Pic by Val Adamson

“Tegan Peacock's "Burst my Bubble" employed humour and a sense of whimsy, particularly with her choice of music. Her use of brightly coloured balloons as metaphors for hopes and dreams that are sometimes popped, shows a unique sense of intuitive timing and even clowning.”

The International School of Performing Art "Echoes of Greatness”, choreographed by Gabriel Youngstar. Pic by Val Adamson.

“The International School of Performing Arts (ISPA) students shone in a large ensemble work titled "Echoes of Greatness", choreographed by Gabriel Youngstar. The work explored rhythmical and often challenging choreography with elements of ritual. Some excellent partnering and strong lifts showed solid technique and use of trust exercises. The group was beautifully costumed and well-lit.”

“It is heartening to see the range of work being offered by young dance makers and a real engagement with physical storytelling on many levels,” said Ballantyne on behalf of the jury.

JOMBA! continues until Sunday 7 September with a range of performances, workshops and talks. For more information and to see the full programme, go to: https://jomba.ukzn.ac.za/

Tickets are R85 and R65 (concessions and groups). Booking via WebTickets. 

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Choreographer BreeH Cele’s work “uXinzelelo” wins Pick of the JOMBA! Live Open Horizons Platform

In the first time since COVID hit the globe in 2019, JOMBA’s popular Live Open Horizons made its way back live into the theatre to an appreciative audience, with Pietermaritzburg Choreographer BreeH Cele’s work uXinzelelo taking the honours receiving the “Pick of the Platform” award last night (29 August).

BreeH Cele (2nd from left) receiving the Pick of the Platform Award from Tammy Ballatyne (left) Jabu Siphika and Yaseen Manuel (Right) - Pic by Val Adamson

Jurors for the Open Horizons were dancer/choreographers Yaseen Manuel (Unmute Dane Company) and Jabu Siphika (FLATFOOT Dance Company) and dance writer and researcher Tammy Ballantyne.

uXinzelelo by BreeH Cele- Pic by Val Adamson

The jurors' citation read: “The Pick of the Platform was “uXinzelelo”, choreographed by BreeH Cele, with a carefully conceptualised work encompassing the weight of unique struggles faced by the black community when it comes to mental health concerns. Cele wove magic through the use of powerful, live vocals, strong voiceovers, evocative lighting choices, and disciplined, focussed performers. The stage was covered in white maize meal, which the performers became caked in as the strong choreography unfolded, with good use of the floor and imaginative partnering. At times, there was a sense of call and response between singers and dancers, as well as clever changes in pace and rhythm. An impressive work by a young woman who is using this research as part of her Master's studies.”

uXinzelelo  was performed by Nandile Khumalo, Sabelo Cele, Asanda S. Khathi, BreeH Cele, Slindile Mthethwa, Thulisile Sithebe, S'khona Mathenjwa, Pertunia Msani, Neo Dube and Nomthandazo Nxabela.

Accepting the award, which carries a small cash honorarium, BreeH Cele, said that she is looking to use it to further develop a short film on the work.

Inescapable, choreographed and performed by Siphesihle Vilakazi and Anneline Mazibuko- Pic by Val Adamson

Other works included Inescapable, choreographed and performed by Siphesihle Vilakazi and Anneline Mazibuko, from Durban, SA; SACRIFICIUM choreographed by Versatile Youth Company’  Thimna Sitokisi from Gugulethu, SA, and performed by Inam Dyonasi; Ndimphiwe Koloti; Sandile Dyushu; Buntu Anta and Simthembile Mampufo, and Giselle and me choreographed and performed by Sarahleigh Castelyn (SA/UK) .

SACRIFICIUM choreographed by Versatile Youth Company’  Thimna Sitokisi - Pic by Val Adamson

The jurors noted the common threads binding the four works on this platform – the deep, inner struggles with mental health and emotional trauma. All four found inventive ways to communicate their stories through well-rehearsed and conceived works, with attention to effective lighting and a variety of choreographic choices.

Giselle and me choreographed and performed by Sarahleigh Castelyn (SA/UK) - Pic by Val Adamson

JOMBA! continues until 8 September with performances workshops and discussions.

For more info go to jomba.ukzn.ac.za

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JOMBA! Digital Open Horizons Pick Of The Platform Announced

The 26th JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience, which is currently running in Durban, announced its JOMBA! Digital Open Horizons “pick of the platform” awards for 2024 on Wednesday 28 August. The programme was screened on the festival’s YouTube Channel and is available for the remainder of the festival until 8 September here

The Digital Open Horizons platform invites digital submissions of original works from new and established dance-makers across Africa. These works which last 3 to 8 minutes, were reviewed by an independent jury and seven selected for this platform at the festival: Lacuna by Louise Coetzer (South Africa, Darkroom Contemporary), Echoes by Femi Adebajo (Nigeria), As the Mountain Stood Still by Dave Gardner/Jacques Batista (South Africa), Internal Struggles by Diana Gaya (Kenya), Yolk by Skyla Buchanan (SA/Cyprus),Moments by Marcia Mzindle (South Africa) and Blue Funk by Louise Coetzer (South Africa, Darkroom Contemporary)

The jury selected Yolk in first place, Echoes in second and Lacuna in third as the “picks of the platform”.

Yolk by Skyla Buchanan (SA/Cyprus)

Yolk was selected in first place for its “innovation, beautiful cinematography and interesting settings as well as its subject matter”. Filmed by Beatrice Mariani, and choreographed, performed, directed and edited by Skyla Buchanan a contemporary trained dancer, practitioner and choreographer working with a multidisciplinary approach to performance. 

Yolk is set against the oppressive heat of summer, and explores the link between womanhood and fertility - where the sense of being a woman is derived from a "bioessentialised" maternal instinct: “A woman with no children is a wasted potential of a womb, wasted space, wasted time, wasted life- the wasted yolk of a fresh egg.”

Echoes by Femi Adebajo (Nigeria),

Nigeria’s Femi Adebajo’s Echoes, performed by Adebajo and Janed Aduayom was awarded second place. This work was selected for its “interesting pace and rhythm as well as its use of location and space and his creation of tension and suspense.”

Adebajo is a creative multidisciplinary artist who focuses on exploring art as a medium of connection to the human mind. 

Echoes provides a creative representation of the concept of pressure and its influence on both the physical bodies and mental states of individuals. It aims to offer a powerful and artistic insight into the human experience, highlighting the effects of pressure and its significance in our lives.

Lacuna choreographed and performed by Mthuthuzeil November, directed by Louise Coetzer

In third place selected for its “wonderful play between dark and light, its use of slow motion and its cinematic sets” was Lacuna choreographed and performed by Mthuthuzeil November, directed by Louise Coetzer with videography: Oscar O'Ryan, and produced by Darkroom Contemporary.

Coetzer is a versatile dance artist also renowned for her multidisciplinary approach to performance art. Lacuna traces the unfilled spaces of the brutalist architecture enveloping the dancer. It is a cinematic study of light and shade, seen and unseen

The Festival offers a range of workshops, talks and performances and runs until 8 September. Tickets are available through Computicket.

All festival information is available on the festival website:  https://jomba.ukzn.ac.za/

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Dancers from Bangalore (India) for this year's JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience

The UKZN Centre for Creative Arts' JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience, which takes place from  August 27 to September 8, will feature two exceptional performances from India by the Bangalore-based dancer and choreographer Deepak Kurki Shivaswamy. These performances will be presented both at UKZN, Durban and at The Market Theatre in Johannesburg with the support of the Consulate General of India (Durban & Johannesburg), and the Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), Government of India.

The performances will be at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre in Durban on Thursday 5 and Friday 6 September, and at JOMBA! @The Market in Johannesburg on 11 and 12 September. These performances are part of a larger contemporary dance programme that includes workshops, panel discussions, and virtual screen dance presentations taking place at various venues in Durban, and followed by a condensed version in Johannesburg.

Deepak Kurki Shivaswamy.

Deepak Shivaswamy, trained in Yoga, and Indian martial art Kalaripayattu  has been developing pedagogy for contemporary dance since 2004. He is a significant figure in contemporary dance, exploring modern Indian identities and its evolving concept of home. His latest double bill, titled "Vasudaiva Kutumbakam," which also features choreographers and dancers Prashant More and Mirra, reflects this journey. The term, which translates to "the world is one family," serves as a guiding principle for his performances at JOMBA!. Shivaswamy explains, “This concept of universal kinship inspires our work, using dance as a universal language to connect and resonate with audiences globally.”

Weight of Time

Deepak Shivaswamy’s first piece, Weight of Time, challenges conventional notions of art's purpose. It invites audiences to let go of expectations and simply be present, savouring the performance as an experience in itself. His second piece, Mycelium Maatu, draws inspiration from the mycelium—a natural network of fungal threads that interconnect in intricate, organic patterns. This concept profoundly influences Shivaswamy’s approach to dance, encouraging a creation that mirrors the mycelium’s interconnected and evolving structure.

Mycelium Maatu

Among the exciting additions to JOMBA! 2024 are opportunities for audiences to engage directly with dancers and choreographers. These include special sessions where attendees can hear from the artists about their creative processes and works. On September 6, Deepak Kurki Shivaswamy will join JOMBA! curator Lliane Loots for an on-stage discussion following his performance, as part of the JOMBA! TALKS DANCE series. This conversation will offer deeper insights into Shivaswamy’s work and creative vision.

On Friday, September 6, Deepak Kurki Shivaswamy, alongside Prashant More and Mirra, will lead a free open workshop titled Aattam Idam: A Place for Playing. Scheduled from 4pm at the UKZN - Howard College Campus Drama and Performance Studies Dance Studio in Durban. This workshop is based on the concept of “PLAY.” It invites participants of all skill levels to explore dance and movement through creative and joyful expression. This is followed by another workshop on September 12 at The Market Theatre.

These workshops are offered free of charge to participants, but booking is essential as places are limited. The workshop is only open to dancers over 16 years. Book with e-mail thobimaphanga@gmail.com.

They will also present a closed workshop with Rudra Dance Company and ParamAtham Dance Theatre in Durban on Saturday 7 September,

Performance timings are 7pm on Thursday 5 and Friday 6 September at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre, and at 6.30pm on 11 and 12 September at The Market in Johannesburg

For more information and to see the full programme, go to: https://jomba.ukzn.ac.za/

Booking via COMPUTICKET for Durban, and by WEBTICKETS for Johannesburg.

JOMBA! dance residency 2024

A new residency that focuses on the development of young women in dance has been announced as an exciting new addition to the JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience which takes place in Durban from 27 August to 8 September 2024.  The 7-day residency runs during the festival and aims to encourage and support women in dance. 

“Over the years we have observed that there are fewer female dancers working professionally in the contemporary dance space, and so we identified a strong need for more female-focused dance development to be done in Durban,” explains Dr Lliane Loots, Artistic Director of JOMBA!, which is hosted by the Centre for Creative Arts (UKZN).

This year the residency offers space for 6 female dancers aged between 18 and 30 years who have some dance training and now seek to push their skills and make their mark in the dance world as professionals. 

The JOMBA! residency will be led by Gaby Saranouffi (Madagascar/South Africa). Pic Val Adamson

The JOMBA! residency, led by Gaby Saranouffi (Madagascar/South Africa), will focus on further developing the dancers’ technical abilities, as well as include workshops around forging a professional image and work ethic that will aid in preparing these young dance professionals for future work opportunities.  The dancers-in-residence will have access to the full festival programme and have the opportunity to meet and engage with professional companies that are visiting the festival.

The selection process will be done through auditions in the form of a contemporary dance class with some improvisation on Saturday 6 July at 10am at the Flatfoot Dance Studio (UKZN). Dancers-in-residence will be expected to be available for the full 7-day duration (26 August – 1 September 2024) with the outcomes of the residency presented at the JOMBA! YOUTH OPEN HORIZONS platform on Sunday 1 September 2024.

There are selection criteria that include that dancers must be older than 18 years of age, and must reside in eThekwini (Durban) or surrounds. While the residency and festival are offered free of charge to those who are successfully selected, participants must supply their own transport and food needs.

To apply send a (no longer than) two-page CV to Thobile Maphanga: thobimaphanga@gmail.com by Monday 24 June by 4pm.

For full details of criteria, what is required on the CV and more info about the process go to https://bit.ly/JOMBAResidency2024

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Veteran South African dance-maker, Robyn Orlin, named the 2024 JOMBA! LEGACY ARTIST

The 26th annual JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience, hosted by UKZN’s Centre for Creative Arts, has announced that it will honour veteran South African dance-maker Robyn Orlin as the 2024 JOMBA! Legacy Artist. 

Orlin’s work we wear our wheels with pride and slap your streets with colour… we said ‘bonjour’ to satan in 1820 … will feature at JOMBA! which takes place at The Sneddon Theatre in Durban from 27 August to 8 September, with a satellite festival at The Market Theatre in Johannesburg from 11 to 14 September 2024.

Robyn Orlin

Originally created in 2021 we wear our wheels …  is a collaboration with Johannesburg based Moving into Dance. This is a work that negotiates the complicated Durban rickshaw histories – and it finally comes to Durban.

Born in 1955 Johannesburg, Orlin’s vision of contemporary dance continues to be a kind of aesthetic eclecticism where she draws heavily on her own histories of ballet and modern, and a fascination with film and cinema. She has shifted the boundaries of what we consider dance to be, often falling into witty and biting political satire. Her love of kitsch, tutus and yellow plastic ducks has seen her creating iconic images that still haunt a South African dance landscape. 

we wear our wheels with pride and slap your streets with colour… we said ‘bonjour’ to satan in 1820 … 

Orlin was trained at the London School of Contemporary Dance (1975-1980), then at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (1990-1995). She began her career as a dancer, choreographer and teacher in South Africa, where she was quickly spotted, as much for the singularity of her dance making, as for the chaos that reigns in her creations.  Her (multiple prize-winning) dance piece Daddy, I have seen this piece six times before and I still don’t know why they’re hurting each other, which mocks the difficulties and shortcomings of the young rainbow nation, but also classical ballet as a trajectory of discrimination, enabled her to tour in Europe and brought her international recognition. France has since become a creative territory for her and she has made her first film, Hidden Beauties, Dirty Stories (Ina/Arte, 2004), her first opera, Handel’s L’Allegro, il penseroso ed il moderato (Opéra Garnier, Paris, 2007), and her first theatre production, Les Bonnes, by Jean Genet (Théâtre de la Bastille, Paris, 2019) in France. She continues to create work in South Africa.

Artistic Director and curator, Lliane Loots says, “The JOMBA! festival’s 2024 overall curatorial theme and provocation is “the memory of home” and we can think of no South African artist better suited to unpack both the simplicity and complexity of this in her work. Memories are about history, belonging, sometimes suffocating nostalgia, and maybe also about charting new futures … Robyn’s work is all of this and more”.

“Orlin’s work has not been performed in South Africa for many years, and so it is with great thanks for the support from IFAS (Paris) and IFAS (Johannesburg), that JOMBA! welcomes her back to South Africa as our 2024 JOMBA! Legacy artist.”

JOMBA! takes place at The Sneddon Theatre in Durban from 27 August to 8 September, and the satellite festival takes place at The Market Theatre in Johannesburg from 11 to 14 September 2024.

we wear our wheels …  will be performed on 7 and 8 September in Durban and on 11 and 12 September at The Market in Johannesburg.

For more information go to www.jomba.ac.za.

JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience Announces International Guests for 25th Edition

This year, the JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience presented by the Centre for Creative Arts (UKZN) celebrates its 25th anniversary, offering dance fans a 13-day treat of world-class contemporary dance that will see both local and international dance makers converge on Durban from 29 August to 10 September.

Alongside the very best that South Africa has to offer JOMBA! will feature international guests from Mozambique, Switzerland, Netherlands, Madagascar, Uganda, Romania, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Brazil. This 25th edition offers not only a powerhouse of performances but workshops, residencies, talks, panel discussions, and virtual screen dance.

The theme for this year is “(in)tangible heritages”. Curator and Artistic Director, Dr Lliane Loots elaborates: “In curating this year’s festival, we have invited dance makers to reimagine their – and our – relationship with ideas of belonging and our varying (in)tangible heritages. The 25th JOMBA! is honouring artists who, through their work and their moving bodies, generate a new sense of belonging that questions who we are at this critical moment in our history”. 

Mozambique’s award-winning dancer/choreographer Pak Ndjamena

Mozambique’s award-winning dancer/choreographer Pak Ndjamena presents his arresting solo work, DEUS NOS ACUDI / GOD HELPS US, that interrogates contemporary African male identity and pulls no punches in its message. 

Thobi Maphanga in hannahmadance’s INVASION(S) (Germany)

Two dance companies from Germany will feature: Hannah Ma’s hannahmadance performs a work that links with South African performers Thobi Maphanga and Jabu Siphika.  INVASION(S) analyses the act of invasion as the act of violently entering a (political, physical, biological) territory from a feminist, and post-migrant perspective. Helge Letonja and his company Of Curious Nature – made up of artists from all over the world presents UN-ZEIT which creates hypnotic images where the perception of time seems to fray and dancing bodies search for support. 

Virva Talonen (Finland)

FLATFOOT DANCE COMPANY in Portable Home Project (Finland /SA)

With support from the Finnish Embassy (Pretoria), Virva Talonen presents a work in collaboration with Durban’s FLATFOOT DANCE COMPANY. Her Portable Home Project is a contemporary dance performance series that delves into a concept of home and its various definitions. The Portable Home Project is co-created by Finnish Lighting Designer Nanni Vapaavuori. 

ACE dance and music (UK)

Birmingham (UK) based ACE dance and music features in a spectacular double bill – UNKNOWN REALMS – with choreography by Burkina Faso’s Serge Aimé Coulibaly and South Africa’s Vincent Sekwati Mantsoe. Coulibaly’s THE NIGHT BEFORE TOMORROW is a metaphorical night where people try to do their last dance before an uncertain tomorrow. Mantsoe’s MANA – THE POWER WITHIN engages the sacred, ritualistic and shamanic. 

Ramanenjana (Romania/Madagascar)

JOMBA! partners again with Rerouting Arts at St Anne’s (Hilton) to share a collaboration between Romania and Madagascar. Ramanenjana is a docufiction performance about a dance that made history. The work examines dance’s societal role and how colonialism spread misconceptions about this extraordinary moment in history. Ramanenjana will also be performed for audiences in Durban. 

Unmute Dance Theatre (SA)

JOMBA! continues to open up access to work that makes visible intersections around dance and disability. JOMBA! 2023 DANCEABILITY FOCUS features dance-makers who are shifting global perceptions around disability: Joseph Tebandeke (Uganda), Unmute Dance Theatre (Cape Town, South Africa), and an inclusive programme from Introdans (Netherlands).

Joseph Tebandeke (Uganda)

Introdans (Netherlands)

In partnership with ASSITEJ, JOMBA! offers the new JOMBA! FOR YOUTH FOCUS aimed at younger audiences, to help grow youth audiences for dance.

Switzerland’s Joshua Monten’s GAME THEORY 

Artists from Switzerland and the Netherlands feature in a new JOMBA! programme that travels to schools and also offers public performances. Switzerland’s Joshua Monten, brings a delightful engrossing work called GAME THEORY that will travel to two schools. This work looks at some of the building blocks of play: freedom and rules. Dutch Dance company de Stilte, focuses on developing productions and performing for children. They bring FLYING COW choreographed by Jack Timmermans which is the story of two girls and a boy who embark on a stand-off, flying on the wings of their imagination.

FLYING COW choreographed by Jack Timmermans (Netherlands)

Other features of the 25th Anniversary festival include two major South African works, the JOMBA! Youth Open Horizons, JOMBA! ON THE EDGE, after performance talks, an engaging dialogue with dance-makers, the launch of the 25th-anniversary book, a series of free workshops and masterclasses, a lighting workshop, a screen dance residency, a dance writers residency, and a smaller curated festival at The Market Theatre in Johannesburg.

Tickets are R80 or R50 (students, scholars, pensioners) or R350 – once off FULL festival pass to see everything.

Booking through COMPUTICKET

For more information go to https://jomba.ukzn.ac.za/

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Call for papers for third JOMBA! MASIHAMBISANE DIALOGUES – 24 to 26 May

The University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Centre for Creative Arts in partnership with Warwick University (UK) and the African Dance Disability Network, calls for submissions of abstracts, papers and digital participation for the third annual JOMBA! MASIHAMBISANE DIALOGUES, a colloquium to engage in robust and meaningful conversations around contemporary dance, online from 24 to 26 May.

JOMBA!’s curator, Dr. Lliane Loots is working with Warwick’s Prof. Yvette Hutchison on a two-year UKRI – AHRC funded research project entitled Encountering disability through contemporary dance in Africa, and thus the colloquium will focus into the provocation of “Integrated dance practices: moving centres”. A host of dance, practitioners, academics and associates are expected to participate including Joseph Tebandeke, a Ugandan dancer and choreographer based in Kampala, who will be one of the key-note speakers at this edition. The actual colloquium will be presented online and open to public viewing.

Unmute Dance Company - photo by Val Adamson

This third annual JOMBA! MASIHAMBISANE DIALOGUES, hosted in the 25th anniversary year of the JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience, sets out to engage scholarship, pedagogy and practices into integrated dance as an embodied form with a particular African focus, without being exclusive.

The call out for papers, digital scholarship and any new integrated forms of knowledge sharing is open and closes on 4 April 2023. For more details or to download the official call-out frame of reference go to https://jomba.ukzn.ac.za/masihambisane-dialogues/

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Innovative Dance Works Commissioned for JOMBA! EDGE Platform at Dance Festival

Innovative Dance Works Commissioned for JOMBA! EDGE Platform at Festival

Three KwaZulu-Natal dance-makers have been commissioned to create works for this year’s JOMBA! EDGE platform, as part of the JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience taking place from 30 August at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre in Durban.

JOMBA! which is presented by the Centre for Creative Arts at the University of KwaZulu-Natal has a long history of supporting Durban and KZN-based dance-makers and has offered grants to three choreographers/dancers to help push their creation of new local work. In the JOMBA! EDGE mentored platform, Sandile Mkhize (Durban), Tegan Peacock (Pietermaritzburg) and Pavishen Paideya (Durban) will present their work on Friday, 2 September at 7pm and Saturday, 3 September at 2.30pm.

The same programme will be presented by JOMBA! and Rerouting Arts at the Old Mushroom Farm in Howick on 17 September at 6pm.

“All three have displayed an uncanny survival instinct and despite so much lost time for dance over the COVID shut down, all three have continued to make meaningful work over this time,” says JOMBA!’s Artistic Director Lliane Loots. “We are delighted to honour them in our 2022 festival and have asked to respond to the curatorial provocation of this year’s festival – the (im)possibility of home.”

Sandile Mkhize

Co-founder and Artistic Director of Phakama Dance Theatre Sandile Mkhize will premiere TAKE ME BACK HOME, a duet that begins to rethink notions of black masculinity and brotherhood. He takes us on a journey to what home means for the body – a place of self-discovery and self-interrogation.

Pavishen Paideya

Accomplished dancer and choreographer and artistic director of Rudra Dance Theatre, an Indian dance company, Pavishen Paideya presents SAMSARA - an honest and culturally magnificent dance journey into Diaspora Indian South African identity and ideas of home and belonging.

Tegan Peacock

Performance artist and creator and founder of Rerouting Arts, a collaborative arts organisation, Tegan Peacock present HEAD_SPACE as she attempts to trace the internal conversations of the body and the mind in turmoil. It is a mapping of patterns, pressures and struggles, a performative cartography of self and belonging that works with live music.

The festival offers a 13 day feast of contemporary dance, and includes performances and dance talks at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre with a Youth Open Horizons event at the Stable Theatre and select online offerings, as well as workshops, and an extensive online blog.

The Festival takes place from 30 August to 11 September. Tickets for performances at the Sneddon Theatre are R80, and R65 for students, scholars and pensioners through Computicket (https://tickets.computicket.com/). All other events are free.

(Tickets for the programme in Howick on 17 September at 6pm are R80 and can be booked through https://bit.ly/BookJombaReroutingHowick

For more information follow on social media or go to the website: https://jomba.ukzn.ac.za/

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24th JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience Announces its first live programme in 2 years

24th JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience Announces its first live programme in 2 years

30 August to 11 September 2022

The 24th JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience, hosted by the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Centre for Creative Arts, has announced its programme for its first live festival since 2019, which takes place at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre, UKZN from 30 August to 11 September 2022.

The theme of this JOMBA! centres around “the (im)possibility of home”, and offers dance and theatre fans a treat of 13 days of world-class contemporary dance and performance from both local and international dance-makers. Artists hail from Mozambique, Switzerland, Reunion Island, India, and of course, includes the very best that South Africa has to offer. This edition offers a powerhouse of performances, workshops, after-performance Q & A’s, panel discussions, virtual screen dance, and the return of the JOMBA! youth dance platform that continues to support the growth of Durban’s young dance communities.

“We are thrilled and relieved to be finally presenting our much-loved festival – live and in-person, while keeping some works and events online to include those not able to attend,” says Artistic Director and Curator, Dr Lliane Loots. “This year, through the theme “the (im)possibility of home”, we have set out to interrogate a series of dance offerings that negotiate heritage, culture, nostalgia, and identity, which explore a sense of belonging and how this persists, changes, and transforms through time – and what a time (both local and global) for this moment!”

Vincent Mantsoe

Within this theme, Vincent Sekwati Mantsoe will be honoured as the 2022 JOMBA! Legacy Artist. “This year marks a 30-year history of Mantsoe’s career as a dancer and choreographer and we can think of no better way to honour this incredible icon in South Africa’s historical dance trajectory than to celebrate with him,” says Loots.

There will be a live performance of Mantsoe’s new solo work KOMA, the screening of his short dance film CUT (part 1) made during lockdown and his two-year process (2021 and 2022) of working with Durban’s FLATFOOT DANCE COMPANY and the long journey to making CUT (part 2) – which will premiere at the festival, and he will present a masterclass.

Hominal/Xaba

South Africa’s doyens of contemporary dance - the controversial and critical dance-makers – Mamela Nyamza and Nelisiwe Xaba feature with Xaba opening this year's festival in a collaboration with Swiss dance maker Marie-Caroline Hominal in a work intriguingly and simply titled Hominal/Xaba. 

Mamela Nyamza

The deeply interrogated and thoughtful Mamela Nyamza offers her newest work GROUNDED. performed with her son Amkele Mandla, in which she offers us a look into her South Africa where democracy superficially seems to be in a working condition, but actually has small cracks not easy to see.

Edna Jaime

In partnership with the Goethe-Institut South Africa, JOMBA! will host the inimitable Mozambican dance-maker Edna Jaime in her remarkable solo Um Segundo (One Second).

Fana Tshabalala

Fana Tshabalala, the 2019 JOMBA! Mellon Artist in Residence, makes a welcome return with his Broken Borders Arts Project to premiere his latest solo work Zann, which he began creating as part of the 2019 residency. 

Three new works by Durban choreographers/dancers - Sandile Mkhize, Tegan Peacock, and Pavishen Paideya will premiere at the festival. All three were given grants to help push their creation of new local work in the JOMBA! EDGE mentored platform.

The JOMBA! YOUTH OPEN HORIZONS (formerly the Youth Fringe), will feature a host of local dance talent at The Stable Theatre.

The virtual offerings include the JOMBA! AFRICAN DIGITAL VOICES, OPEN HORIZONS and an online panel discussion.

In the JOMBA! AFRICAN DIGITAL VOICES platform Mozambican choreographer and dancer Pak Ndjamena, who collaborates with photographer and filmmaker Ivan Barros, has been commissioned to make a screen dance offering One Step at a Time; while Reunion Island’s Didier Boutiana and his company SOUL CITY present a dance film titled Le Sol Oblige (The Earth Obliges) a humbling and beautiful look at the relationship of the individual to ideas of home and land, and to community. Mantsoe’s Cut (part 1) features online here too.

JOMBA! OPEN HORIZONS (formerly the JOMBA! Fringe) continues to support dance-makers working in film. A jury will select six films to showcase from a call for submissions earlier this year, and the top three will be announced after the viewing. 

The festival closes with a virtual conversation between Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts (Bangalore, India) and artist Simon Senn (Switzerland) looks at the dance work of this amazing centre and the incredible project between Senn and Bharatha Natyam dancer Rohee Oberoi.  

There are three open workshops (dancers over 16 only) for dancers and dance-makers, an industry-related session entitled JOMBA! Forging Futures, and the much-valued JOMBA! KHULUMA online writing residency will feature write-ups, interviews and reviews. More details to be announced soon 

Live performances take place at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre (UKZN), the Stable Theatre (one performance and free) as well as virtual/online (free) .

Tickets for Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre performances are R80 full price, R65 – students, scholars and pensioners. Booking is through Computicket.

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Award-winning Cape Town Choreographer Yaseen Manuel to create work for CCA’S JOMBA!

Award-winning Cape Town Choreographer  Yaseen Manuel to create work for CCA’S JOMBA!

The University of KwaZulu-Natal’s School of the Arts, in partnership with the Mellon Foundation’s Artist in Residence programme, is delighted to welcome Cape Town dancer and choreographer Yaseen Manuel who will be spending 3 months working in conjunction with the Centre for Creative Arts’ 23rd JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience, and the Drama and Performance Studies Programme. 

Yaseen Manuel with Flatfoot Dance Company’s Sifiso Khumalo rehearsing for the 2019 JOMBA fest.

In a really difficult time for any embodied practice, with the need for social distancing and safe ways of working, Manuel will be using the Mellon residency to create two screen dance films that will premiere at JOMBA!’s second digital iteration of its festival in late August. For this, he will be working with Durban’s much-loved FLATFOOT DANCE COMPANY – and in an interesting interplay of digital on-line engagements. He will also be hosting workshops and discussion sessions/seminars via zoom with UKZN’s dance students over his three-month residency. 

Manuel’’ own Cape Town history and personal Muslim spirituality and legacy features prominently in his work. The South African dance community sat up and took notice of his work when he began a series of solos in 2016/17 that connected race, religion and ideas of masculinity in choreographed evocations of deeply neglected stories and identities in the South African landscape. His recent 2019 dance work “ASLAMA”, linked the Syrian massacre to a more internal battle for self and identity that was both terrifying and beautiful!

He is a skilled dancer and teacher and while he works as an independent artist, he is also a member of the ground-breaking integrated dance company UNMUTE DANCE COMPANY. Dr Lliane Loots, artistic director and curator of the CCA’s JOMBA! festival says that she is “delighted – at this very difficult time for dance – to open space to feature one of South Africa’s most original dance-making voices and the reminder he offers, of yet still untold and underrepresented stories in our country”.

Catch the premiere of Yaseen Manuel’s screen dance films at JOMBA! which will take place on-line from 24 August to 5 September. Access to on-line viewing is free. Subscribe to the JOMBA Youtube channel here : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCN9cM0WFw5j2QnYSbk1Zu6Q

UKZN’s CCA & JOMBA! presents JOMBA! 2021 Masihambisane Dialogues

The University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Centre for Creative Arts and the

JOMBA! CONTEMPORARY DANCE EXPERIENCE presents

JOMBA! 2021 Masihambisane Dialogues

2 – 4 June 2021

An open three-day dance colloquium hosted by the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Centre for Creative Arts and the JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Festival with support funding from the NIHSS, on Youtube, will focus on new ways of engaging dance/performance scholarship, practice, and practice-led research in innovative, provocative and interesting ways from 2 to 4 June 2021.

JOMBA! Masihambisane Dialogues aims to support South African and African (and Diaspora) dance and performance scholarship and research in an accessible and community-driven manner. An international community of dance/performance scholars have curated what promises to be an engaging dialogue around dance.

This year’s curatorial committee include Mr. David Thatanelo April - University of Pretoria (SA), Ms. Clare Craighead - Durban University of Technology (SA), Mr. Gift Marovatsanga - University of Zululand (SA), Dr. Lliane Loots - University of KwaZulu-Natal CCA (SA) [chair and organiser], Dr. Sarahleigh Castelyn - University of East London (UK), Ms. Thobile Maphanga - Centre for Creative Arts (UKZN - SA)[postgraduate student representative and colloquium administrator] and Dr. Yvette Hutchison - Warwick University (UK).

Keynote speakers include award-winning and prolific South African choreographers Boyzie Cekwana, Nelisiwe Xaba and PJ Sabbagha. Sessions includes prepared papers as well as conversations, a workshop and performances. 

A panel entitled BOXED and Its Inspirations for the Future, based on Dr. Anita Ratnam (Chennai, India) 2020 work Boxed, which was created during COVID and has become a template of how an existing crisis can inspire original dance art. Panelists include  Dr. Ratnam, Producer/Presenter, Chitra Sundaram, Series Consultant .

Choreographing violence and intimacies: exploring choreography, screendance and scenography as artistic mediums for choreographing intimacies through a performance lecture titled In the shadow of his fist, is the paper to be presented by Kamogelo Molobye, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, SA

Tammy Ballantyne Webber (Johannesburg, SA), Ntshadi Mofokeng (Johannesburg, SA), Thobile Maphanga (Durban, SA); with contribution from Kivithra Naicker (Seoul/Durban, KOREA/SA) join a conversation around “the role of the dance writer as dance goes digital”.

Dr. Sarahleigh Castelyn, University of East London, United Kingdom presents a paper entitled Intimacy as a Political Act: Contemporary Dance in South Africa 

[DE]TACH presented by Lucky Karabo Moeketsi (Gauteng, SA), explores the environmental habits that became a Black society’s norm against the spectre of the COVID pandemic and the required social distancing.

Hannah Ma (Luxembourg, Germany)  presents Why intimacy is the sphere where embodiment and integration becomes evident in the evolution of humankind in a globalised, capitalist world with contributions by respondents Nai Ni Chen (New Jersey, USA) and Nora Amin (Cairo, Egypt).

Digital Dance and domesticity: the work of female East African choreographers in a time of COVID is the paper presented by Charlie Ely (University of Leeds, UK) which looks at how the new realities of the pandemic have shaped the work of female East African choreographers, including Diana Gaya, Catherine Nakawesa and Pili Maguzo.

Mlondiwethu Dubazane (Cape Town, SA) and Nomcebisi Moyikwa (Durban, SA - University of KwaZulu-Natal) present Language is a breathable place: “that words must get out of the way for something else to come through’’ (Klonaris, 2011) in which they re-think ideas around language and the embodied self.

A workshop and paper entitled ‘When I slam my body into a wall, I know that it’s there’ authored and facilitated by  Kristina Johnstone (University of Pretoria & WITS, Gauteng, SA) reflects on the facilitation of embodied practice in a virtual space of teaching, learning and creation, specifically looking at ways of facilitating touch and the importance of creating moments of synchronicity (shared time). 

JC Zondi (China/South Africa) and Simphiwe "Fiddy" Ngcobo (Durban, SA) present Performing Uncertainties which open discussion around the relationship of film to dance making and, significantly the role of the audience/viewer in all of this.

Lorin Sookool (Cape Town, SA) in conversation with Thobile Maphanga (Durban, SA) speaks around her experience of creating her work Prayer Room (2020). She will discuss the processes and possibilities of engagement in art making during the times of COVID-19 in a session titled De-Snubbing the ‘Jack of All Trades’.

The full programme can be accessed on this link:  http://bit.ly/JombaColloquiumProgramme

It will be livestreamed to the JOMBA! YouTube Chanel and can be accessed free of charge on www.YouTube.com/Jomba_Dance  

The Dialogues will also have a closed ZOOM link for direct participants and for those who wish to apply to join and be present in the “room”.  Access to this is limited and participants need to apply to Thobile Maphanga on thobimaphanga@gmail.com.

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JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience Call for Submissions for New Digital Platform - “Open Horizons”

JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience

Call for Submissions for New Digital Platform - “Open Horizons”

The Centre for Creative Arts (UKZN) presents the 2021 JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience as a virtual event with performance, workshops, and online engagements from 24 August to 5 September. Applications are now open for JOMBA! “Open Horizons”, formerly known as the “Fringe”, which now offers a long and a short form platform for the submission of screen dance/digital dance work.

From the 2019 Something's not right choreographed by Carla Mostert and Rafe Green pictured here

“This remains an open access platform for any and all contemporary dance makers to apply and showcase their work at the festival,” explains Lliane Loots, Artistic Director of the Festival. “We invite professional, experimental, and young choreographers, dancers and dance companies to apply for participation on either (or both) with digital dance or screen dance work.”

The festival is looking for work that is located within the broad spectrum of contemporary dance, with preference being given to South African and African submissions. 

The Long Form welcome works between 5 and 8 minutes long, which will be streamed on the JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience’s YouTube channel.

The Short Form welcomes works that are 1 to 3 minutes long and will be streamed on Youtube as well as its social media channels, in a lower res format, to enable wider accessibility, and can be shared across various social media platforms.

For both these platforms a panel will select three “Pick of the Open Horizons” which sees three Long Form dance-makers being awarded after the festival, R3 500, R2 500, and R1 500 respectively, and three Short Form being awarded R2 000, R1 500 and R1 000 respectively.

All criteria and information about submissions as well as application forms can be found on this link: https://jomba.ukzn.ac.za/open-horizons/

Submission closes on Friday 9 July at 4pm (SAST).

Queries can be submitted via email to jombafestival@gmail.com.

Ends

Flatfoot to Dance in the Park - Botanic Gardens, Durban, 7 - 11 April at 5pm

FLATFOOT DANCE COMPANY 

in association with the Durban Botanic Gardens Trust, 

presents  “PARK DANCES #1” Durban Botanic Gardens

 7 – 11 April @ 5pm

COST: R100 per ticket 

Join Flatfoot Dance Company for its inaugural “Park Dances #1” in the lush surroundings of Durban’s exquisite Botanic Gardens for an outdoor sundowner dance experience from 7 to 11 April at 5pm each evening.

This short outdoor season, allows the audience to relax and safely watch Durban’s much-loved dance company in a celebration of joyous dance with good music in true Flatfoot style.

This hour-long explosion of dance has been collaboratively created by the full company: Sifiso Khumalo, Jabu Siphika, Lliane Loots, Zinhle Nzama, Mthoko Mkhwanazi, Sbonga Ndlovu, Siseko Duba and Ndumiso Dube. It offers a rich confluence of African rhythms, with classical and contemporary influence and execution.

This is the first Flatfoot’s “Park Dances” taking place during 2021 that will engage the natural environment of Durban’s parks as renewed and reimagined spaces to watch dance. 

“We are delighted to start off our Park season in collaboration with the Durban Botanic Gardens Trust and to have this opportunity to share this incredibly beautiful living space with audiences,” says Artistic Director Lliane Loots.

This is a family-friendly performance and audiences may bring picnics and blankets to sit on. Entrance opens at 4.15pm for patrons to settle in, enjoy a picnic or a stroll around the gardens before the show begins at 5pm. 

There is ample safe parking at the main Botanic Gardens Visitors Complex entrance. All COVID-19 safety protocols are in place, and masks must be worn. There is a maximum audience of 50 per show with demarcated areas to sit. Tickets are R100 and must be booked and paid for in advance – there are no door sales. To book contact Clare on flatfootdancecompany@gmail.com.

The Body Politics remembered during Women’s Month through Dance at JOMBA

Media Release

The Body Politics remembered during Women’s Month through Dance at JOMBA

South Africa honours and celebrates the role of women in society during this Women’s Month and on Women’s Day (9 August), in commemoration of the 1956 march of about 20,000 women to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to petition against the country's pass laws. In this remarkable show of solidarity, women gathered together in defiance to make change. 

“64 years later our annual JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience, taking place in August, women’s social, economic, and political struggles, challenges, hopes, and joys, are exposed and expressed through their work and bodies,” says Lliane Loots, Artistic Director of JOMBA. “Dance is a visceral art form that gives space to a body politics and what better way to image defiant and powerful women than those dancing”. 

JOMBA! is especially pleased to feature some of Africa (and the world’s) most powerful female voices in dance and especially Senegal’s award-winning choreographer and dancer, Germaine Acogny, considered as the “mother of Contemporary African dance”. Her 2015 work Somewhere at the beginning will be streamed during the festival and is a remarkable solo featuring a 73-year-old Acogny dancing and narrating a journey of self-identity as black, female, and African.

Flatfoot Dance Company choreographer and dancer Jabu Siphika’s solo piece Ya kutosha, created for JOMBA, is an intimate and terrifying exploration of gender-based violence and what it means to be trapped in the home.

Twelve-year-old Lethiwe Zamantungwa Nzama teams up with her father Sifiso Kitsona Khumalo as she makes her professional debut in a piece called Walls, which is a deeply intimate exploration of a father-daughter relationship set against the separation imposed by COVID-19 and the lockdown.

Chicago, USA-based Deeply Rooted Dance Theatre, under the direction of Nicole Clarke-Springer will feature in Parallel Lives a dance narrative inspired by poor, working women who have shared life-changing events, both beautiful and tragic. Danced with robust power, this is a must-see of this year’s festival. 

From India Anita Ratnam, a highly respected as a performer, writer, speaker, arts entrepreneur, and culture mentor features in Stone ... once again that reveals the facets of gender through misrepresentation and misogyny. This work was made after Donald Trump’s election as USA president.  Ratnam’s main area of focus is in the re-interpretation of traditional tropes from myth and legend using a feminist lens.

Robin Orlin , a power-house dance-maker, known for her incisive wit and ability to confront issues head-on in the dance space, presents a work created for Johannesburg-based Moving into Dance Mophatong called Beauty remained for just a moment then returned gently to her starting position ...”

From New Orleans, Leslie Scott and BODYART Dance Company return to the JOMBA “stage” with several works, all of which show huge courage and bravery in pushing the boundaries of the dancer’s relationship with audiences.

Other women dance-makers on the programme include Kristi-Leigh Gresse, Leagan Peffer, Nomcebisi Moyikwa, Tegan Peacock, Zinhle Nzama presenting works on the opening night which have been commissioned by JOMBA.

Digital JOMBA will stream online from jomba.ukzn.ac.za from 25 August to 6 September 2020.

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JOMBA! Goes Digital and Global ! 25 August - 6 September 2020

The Centre for Creative Arts (University of KwaZulu-Natal)

presents

22nd (DIGITAL) JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience

25 August - 6 September 2020

South Africa’s benchmark dance festival, the JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience, presented by the Centre for Creative Arts, University of KwaZulu-Natal, celebrates its 22nd year with its first-ever digital edition, which will go online, and be available free to a global audience from 25 August to 6 September 2020.

“It is clear that we will not be able to deliver a festival in the same manner as previous years,” explains Artistic Director Dr Lliane Loots. “COVID-19 has shifted the arts world very significantly and in this fragile environment, dance - still defined as a full-contact ‘sport’ – remains separated from rehearsal spaces, from theatre venues, and various sites. The somatic, visceral body is absent right now we believe - as a holding block for future embodied work – that they can still offer dance-makers, dance-lovers, and audiences space to engage serious, beautiful, and important new dance making via a re-visioned JOMBA! 2020.”

This year’s JOMBA! is a carefully curated explosion of dance and conversions about dance-making, offering both a look back at some iconic dance works and dance makers, but it also significantly looks forward to exploring what dance can be in a digital space and a digital time. 

2020 JOMBA! offers 7 vibrant platforms for audiences to engage:

The JOMBA! Legacy (celebrating 21years of JOMBA!) programme features nine key dance-makers from all over the globe who have had a significant impact on making JOMBA! the premier contemporary dance festival in Africa. This is a rare opportunity to look back for a moment and to celebrate some of the world’s most iconic dance-makers who have shared their work on JOMBA! stages: From South Africa Gregory Maqoma and Musa Hlatshwayo are featured; dissenting and remarkable Robyn Orlin shares work she has made with Johannesburg- based Moving into Dance Mophatong; Africa’s two most illustrious voices Nigeria’s Adedayo Liadi and Senegal's Germaine Acogny who is often quoted as the ‘Mother of African contemporary dance’ shares an incredible and definitive solo work (“somewhere at the beginning”) danced at the age of 73. And the exquisite feminist artistry of India’s Anita Ratnam is featured in her challenging revision of Indian mythology. 

Long time JOMBA! guests, INTRODANS from The Netherlands, grace the festival with neo-classical work made before lockdown that never quite had a life on stage. In an on-going partnership with the US Consulate, two remarkable American dance companies that have had a huge impact on JOMBA! over the years are also featured; both hailing from Durban’s twin cities of Chicago and New Orleans. Deeply Rooted Dance Theatre from Chicago and Leslie Scott’s New Orleans BODYART Dance Company. 

The JOMBA! Digital Edge has provided grants to nine Durban dance-makers who continue to make waves on the local dance scene, to create short dance films that will premiere on the opening night of the festival, and will be available to view on the JOMBA! website for the duration of the festival.

The dance-makers were asked to work loosely around the theme of “Intimacies of Isolation” and there were interesting differences in modalities of filming, from cell phone to cameras. Feature choreographers are, Jabu Siphika, Kristi-Leigh Gresse, Leagan Peffer, Nomcebisi Moyikwa, Sandile Mkhize, Sifiso Kitsona Khumalo, Tegan Peacock, Tshediso Kabulu, and Zinhle Nzama

Continuing its partnership with the USA, JOMBA! has invited guest US-based curators Lauren Warnecke, Peter Chu, Rachel Miller, and Tara Aisha Willis to put together a collection of “Dance on Screen” films in an inspired and poetic one hour package of short dance films that explore the length and breadth of film dance in the USA. 

The Digital JOMBA! Fringe showcases 18 African-based dance-makers work from an open application process. JOMBA! will award prizes to the top three dance films in this section. 

Four globally significant dance-makers who have embraced digital dance making under lockdown will host a live conversation around their work and what it means to have made this shift in a programme called Conversations…Dance in a Digital Age. Featured choreographers/dancers are Vincent Mantsoe (South Africa/France), Jürg Koch (Switzerland), Themba Mbui (South Africa), and Ongiege Matthew (Kenya). Both Mbuli and Matthew will offer the world premiere of their new ‘lockdown’ dance works on this JOMBA! platform. 

Once again the JOMBA! blog and digital newspaper - JOMBA! KHULUMA - will involve the on-going support of dance writing and dance criticism through a series of closed webinars/seminars for graduate dance students. 

After years of photographing JOMBA, the fest photographer  Val Adamson will share her work in an exhibition - 21 Years of JOMBA! Through The Lens. This not only honours her extraordinary photographic eye, but it is also a moment of visually remembering the festival’s history through her evocative capturing of dance on stage with her Nikon cameras. 

Digital JOMBA! 2020 runs from 25 August to 6 September off the website, jomba.ukzn.ac.za. All platforms for 2020 are free of charge and a full programme is available via the website. 

For more information and updates on the programme visit Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Dancing in a Digital Space - JOMBA 2020

Media Release

Dancing in a Digital Space

JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience Calls for Fringe Applications

For its 2020 Online Edition

In the wake of the COVID-19 global upheaval and its impact on live performance, the much-loved JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience, hosted by the Centre for Creative Arts, University of KwaZulu-Natal, calls for Fringe Applications as it announces its move online for its 2020 edition in August/September.

“It is clear that we will not be able to deliver JOMBA! in the same manner as previous years,” says JOMBA’s Artistic Director Lliane Loots. “COVID-19 has shifted the arts world very significantly and we will remain one of the hardest hit sectors both now and even post COVID-19.  But as an artistic entity, which offers a time and space for artists to engage in serious and important new art and dance-making for audiences, we believe we must continue with our work and so have begun planning in an environment of fragile uncertainty for a re-visioned digital JOMBA! 2020. “

Loots goes on to explain, “The idea is to imagine JOMBA! to be a benchmark of what a dance festival could possibly be or become at this zeitgeist in our history. As we began to curate what will be a fascinating programme, we would like to reach out for digital submissions for the JOMBA! Fringe 2020.”

Professional, experimental and up-coming choreographers, dancers and dance companies are invited to apply for participation on the JOMBA! Digital Fringe platform.

As JOMBA! is a contemporary dance festival, works that are located within the broad spectrum of contemporary dance will be considered, and preference will be given to South African and African submissions. 

For the JOMBA! Digital Fringe, works that are specifically conceived, and created for film and for a  digital platfom, and that develop interesting dynamics between dance and screen/digital/film disciplines will be considered.

A panel of experts (local and international) will adjudicate the works presented as part of the JOMBA! Digital Fringe, and our “Pick-of-the-Fringe” works will be announced publically.   

Application forms which outline all the submission criteria can be requested via e-mail from jombafestival@gmail.com with the subject line “Request for 2020 JOMBA fringe application form .

Applications close at 4pm on Friday 10 July 2020.