Opportunity for Choreographers in JOMBA! Live and Digital Open Horizons Platforms

The Centre for Creative Arts (University of KwaZulu-Natal) has opened submissions for the 2026 JOMBA! OPEN HORIZONS Platforms, an integral part of the annual JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience - South Africa’s premiere contemporary dance festival which runs from 27 August to 8 September 2026 in Durban.

In its commitment to present bold, experimental, and inclusive dance, JOMBA! offers the live and digital curated OPEN HORIZONS platforms as an opportunity for dance-makers to showcase new works in a safe, and supportive environment.

JOMBA! DIGITAL OPEN HORIZONS aims to showcase screen-dance and dance film, focussing on work that is created specifically for the screen.

SIMUNYE - Breeh Cele (South Africa) (Pick of the Platform - JOMBA! Digital Open Horizons 2025)

JOMBA! invites submissions (5–10 minutes in length) from local, African and international choreographers that engage the moving body in relation to the camera, editing, framing, and digital space, where choreography extends beyond the stage into cinematic forms.

“We are looking for works conceived as screen-based choreographic experiences, where movement, lens, time, and environment are integral to the making of the film,” explains JOMBA! Artistic Director Lliane Loots.

The Space Between Us - Maulid Owino (Kenya) -JOMBA! Digital Open Horizons 2025

“We welcome innovative, experimental, and critically engaged practices within the contemporary dance idiom, including interdisciplinary and hybrid forms that push the boundaries of how dance is created, perceived, and circulated in digital space.”

Selected works will be screened publicly on the festival’s YouTube channel as part of the official programme. An award of R2000 is given to a jury-selected “Jury Pick of the Platform.”

Radix - Mario Gaglione (Italy/South Africa)   - JOMBA! Digital Open Horizons 2025

JOMBA! LIVE OPEN HORIZONS is a platform offered to live short-form dance works (6–8 minutes). The festival is looking for works that sit within the contemporary dance idiom, that are bold, experimental, and can include interdisciplinary approaches to live performance. Choreographic voices that explore innovation, risk-taking, and fresh perspectives will be at an advantage. “We want performances that can engage audiences in new ways and contribute to the beautifully evolving landscape of African contemporary dance,” says Loots.

ISPA programme in ECHOS OF GREATNESS - choreography by Gabriel Youngstar

An award of R2,500 is given to a jury-selected “Jury Pick of the Platform” work.

Both platforms are not funded, and therefore, no travel or accommodation support is provided.

Festival Director Dr Lliane Loots says: “We remain deeply committed to creating accessible, inclusive spaces for dance makers, the OPEN HORIZONS platforms are vital incubators for boundary-breaking choreographic voices, and provides a solid foundation from which to springboard new works into the world.”

SISUKAPHI - 2025 Winning work with choreography by Mfundiseni Ndwalane

All platforms have limited slots, and the selection process is competitive. Applicants are encouraged to submit their entries early to ensure full consideration.

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

Applications can be made on:

Digital https://forms.gle/ntqRy9uj23htX53QA  The deadline is 20 July 2026.

Live https://forms.gle/2PVJaZUeH7tFVuRh7  The deadline for submissions is 29 June 2026.

Enquiries can be emailed to jombafestival@gmail.com .

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.