FLATFOOT DANCE COMPANY 21st Birthday Season “JOURNEY”

Celebrating its 21st birthday, Durban's award-winning FLATFOOT DANCE COMPANY presents a short season of contemporary dance that promises to nourish and enrich, at The Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre on 10 and 11 May.

Titled JOURNEY, the season features two new works, one by resident choreography and artistic director, Lliane Loots, and a another by special guest from Madagascar, Gaby Saranouffi. The season not only celebrates the 21-year journey of getting to this milestone, but it also delves into the head and heart of what it means to be alive at this point in history. 

Saranouffi's SORITRA (traces) opens the evening in a fast-paced journey of self in a search for “traces of where we come from and where we are going.” Inspired by a Malagasy indigenous abstract strategy board game called “diam-panorona”, the movement of stones on a board, horizontally, vertically, and diagonally are intriguingly replicated in a contemporary dance formation with bold athletic movements. Interestingly this work is now in its own 21st-year as Saranouffi has shared it in many spaces and places. She says, “I love letting it breathe new life when new dancer step in and learn it and make it their own. This is a work about the translation of culture, history and memory from one body to another and I am so excited to give it now to FLATFOOT on their 21st birthday.”

Loots's premieres a new work for FLATFOOT, titled the salt on your skin, and begins to journey to the cities (or sites?) of the interior in an often painful, always beautiful, look at intimacy. Referencing sweat and skin, and other acts of love and labour that make up the everyday of our lives, this work is co-created with the six resident FLATFOOT dancers (Sifiso Khumalo, Jabu Siphika, Zinhle Nzama, Ndumiso Dube and Siseko Duba). Drawing on deeply personal stories of love, loss, and ultimately hope, the salt on your skin sees Loots once again using dance to delve into the small stories to imagine; and thus change the bigger narrative that hold our lives. Loots says, “we often mistake intimacy as being only about romance and sex, and while this is also true, the intimacies of raising children, being a mother or father, of mourning lost family and friends, of waking up each day to come to work, of sweating in the studio as we dance through this all, is a shared intimacy that the FLATFOOT dancers have given me. This work, on our 21st birthday, is for the six dancers – it is a love song we created together”. 

the salt on your skin is made up of four sections that traverse a landscape of intimacies, loss, love, shame, and hope. With subtle and evocative lighting by Wesley Maherry, this is a surprisingly gentle dance work given the voracity and intimacy of the unfolding stories. 

JOURNEY is at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre for only 3 performances, 10 May @ 7pm, 11 May @ 2.30pm, and 11 May @ 7pm. Tickets cost R120 (R85 for pensioners, students, scholars and block bookings of 10 or more). 

Booking via COMPUTICKET: https://computicket.com/event/journey/6688047

This season is made possible through a special partnership with the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre.

Thanks to Itrotra Art X Connection NPC.

-ends

Creativity a high priority in Finland echoed in the collaboration of Finnish choreographer Virva Talonen with Flatfoot Dance Co

Finnish choreographer Virva Talonen has spent the last few weeks working with Durban’s Flatfoot Dance Company in a collaboration entitled Portable Home which will be performed at The Courtyard Theatre at DUT, Durban on November 4 and 5.

Finnish choreographer Virva Talonen

According to Jonna Pukkila, Cultural Attaché from the Embassy of Finland (Pretoria), this is the fourth collaboration between Talonen and other dance companies, and the first with an African company. “High on the educational priority list is developing creativity and it’s interconnectedness with nature and this collaboration supports the country’s desire to extend its creative reach beyond the north,” she says.

“Culture has made Finland what it is today. Creativity is highly valued and each child is treated equally. All teachers in creative subjects have vocational degrees in arts. After basic education, creative studies continue in Finland’s top-class universities. Finnish Modern Dance is rooted and fresh at the same time. Even though contemporary dance is a relatively young art form in Finland, it is developing and growing all the time internationally.”

“Finland has reinvented itself in just one short century – and is still at it,” continues Pukkila. “The mindset that drove to build a new society is still hardwired into Finns – and it continues to drive Finland forward today. The Arctic climate gave us guts – or ‘sisu’ as we call it. A lot of Finnish inspiration comes from Finns unique relationship with nature. The only thing we have a lot of is trees and water. People, not so much. That’s why we believe in equality and take good care of each other – and know the value of doing things together. Virva in her work exercises exactly this. A great way for a Finn to express feeling is by actions and movements rather than words.”

Flatfoot Dance Company in rehearsal for Portable Home.

Portable Home is a long-standing project of Virva’s and an extension of her work done in Finland, Palestine and Japan which delves into concepts around home and its various definitions.

The work can be seen at The Courtyard Theatre on 4 November @ 7pm, and on 5 November at 2.30pm and 7pm.

Bookings are via Clarec1@dut.ac.za and go for R80 (students and scholars @ R50).

Please note that limited ticket available for 4 November @ 7pm.

For more information on Virva Talonen: www.virvatalonen.com

More information on Finnish Dance https://www.danceinfo.fi/en/

-ends

Flatfoot Dance Company in Earth Rhythms at KZNSA Gallery

FLATFOOT DANCE COMPANY  in partnership with the KZNSA, presents …EARTH RHYTHMS

@ KZNSA GALLERY, Durban

Durban: Join FLATFOOT DANCE COMPANY for two performances only at Glenwood’s iconic KZNSA Art Gallery in Durban on 10 and 11 December at 6.30pm.

In a family friendly celebration of rhythm, joy and the sheer delight of the dancing and moving body, FLATFOOT will take you on a journey of magical explosive dance that celebrates how rhythm connects us all. Choreographed in a sharing of skills and styles by the full company; Lliane Loots, Sifiso Khumalo, Jabu Siphika, Mthoko Mkhwanazi, Sbonga Ndlovu, Siseko Duba, Ndumiso Dube, and Zinhle Nzama, this performance also features celebrated Durban poet Ongezwa Mbele as her rhythmic spoken words weave a connection between dance, music and the healing time and tides of the ocean. 

FLATFOOT's Sbonga Ndlovu in full flight - photo by Val Adamson

EARTH RHYTHMS is a delightful showcase of FLATFOOT’s unique - award-winning - contemporary dance style mixed in with a bit of popular street dance that will bring a smile to your face.

In honouring the holiday season, this partnership with the KZNSA is a dine, wine, shop and dance happening– doors open from 5pm so you can do some early evening Christmas shopping at BUZZART21, grab a bite to eat and settle into your seats for the 6.30pm show start! The show is one hour.

 The venue is Covid compliant and no mask, no entry! Each performance has a limit of x100 audience members only – book soon to avoid disappointment. No walk-ins/at the door sales - all tickets MUST be prebooked and paid for in advance.

COST: R100 per ticket (under 13s: R80)

Bookings made via flatfootdancecompany@gmail.com

-ends

17th annual JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience

The Centre for Creative Arts and the College of Humanities of the University of KwaZulu-Natal proudly present the 17th annual JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience
26 August – 6 September 2015

The University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Centre for Creative Arts, is proud to present its 17th annual JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience.  This year’s JOMBA! is an international and national treat for dance and theatre lovers with dancers, dance companies and choreographers making their way to Durban from all corners of the globe. For 12 full days, the Centre for Creative Arts offers some of the world’s best dance theatre work that will provoke, entertain, delight and challenge.

With the long term vision of using the JOMBA! platform to honour the African continent and to continue to make artistic connection with the rest of Africa, the festival opens with two works from West Africa. Lagos based Nigerian choreographers Adedayo Liadi and Qudus Onikekeu offer JOMBA! the world premiere of their new duets called “City of God, City of Man”. Imagining the stage as the “city” the audience enters this performance world where these two virtuoso dancers work both in and out of harmony in a conversation about contemporary Africa. This is followed by the rare and beautiful dance theatre vision of Kisangani (Democratic Republic of Congo) based Faustin Linyekula. No stranger to JOMBA! (this is his third visit), Linyekula’s unique and critical vision of contemporary Africa has always made his work the key taking point at any festival. He comes to JOMBA! with his internationally acclaimed solo work “Le Cargo”. In this dance work, Faustin addresses the colonial and postcolonial African legacy of decades of war, terror, fear … all of which settle on the body; and his body specifically. He tackles, with the clarity of speaking truth to power, the legacies of memory and forgetting.

Dutch company, INTRODANS, join JOMBA! to offer a stellar programme (3 performances only) of dance works from their award winning repertoire. Considered one of Europe’s leading touring companies, INTRODANS works in a neo-classical ballet idiom that will definitely delight both ballet and contemporary dance lovers alike. They have titled their JOMBA! 2015 programme JOY4DANCE and it features two works by Dutch master Jiří Kylián where he display his delicate and profound ability to make partner work. The programme also includes a short quirky worked called “Psycho Killer” by choreographed Daniel Ezralow in which dancers are tied together with elastic bands and yet still manage to perform the whirlwind choreography. The programme concludes with a dynamic work by Robert Battle. Since 2011 Battle has been the artistic director of the famous Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre in New York. Battles major qualities as a choreographer is his dynamic and physically challenging dance idiom and, of course, his imagination. “Bon Appétit!” was created especially for INTRODANS in 2007 and offers 12 dancers full of energy and dynamism.

Supporting the local dance industry, JOMBA! is proud to offer Siwela Sonke Dance Theatre celebrating its 20th year this year, a platform to present its most recent and controversial offering called “rite”. Directed and conceptualised by Jay Pather and choreographed jointly by him and the full cast, “rite” premiered at this year’s Dance Umbrella in Johannesburg in February, and caused a storm of critical discussion. No stranger to controversy and sitting on the cutting edge, Pather’s “rite” is a re-imaginations of Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps (Rite of Spring), first presented with Nijinsky’s choreography of 1913. Using the vehicle of ancient ritual to probe the contemporary, “rite” is a journey into a deep and dark contemporary Africa and is dance theatre at its most profound!

JOMBA! 2015 is also extremely proud to host the outcome of the 3rd year of a long term dance collaboration between Deeply Rooted Dance Theatre (Chicago, USA) and Durban’s celebrated FLATFOOT DANCE COMPANY. This collaboration began in 2013 at the JOMBA! platform, went on to continue in Chicago in July 2014, and returns to Durban for 2015. Despite the huge challenges of finance, navigating the distance (spatially and in the head and heart) of North/South hemispheres, and 24 hour flights across numerous time zones, these two companies have found each other in a space of mutual respect and recognition of the dance and art education work they do. This JOMBA! 2015 programme is a testament to some audacious personal and artistic will to keep the connection alive and offers 5 unique works; some from the Deeply Rooted repertoire, and some from the collaborative space shared by these two companies, dancers and choreographers. The programme features dance work by Chicago’s Kevin Iega Jeff, Nicole Clarke Springer, Anthony Marshall, Gary Abbot and Durban’s Lliane Loots.

Finally, on the main platform performance front, JOMBA! continues its long-standing relationship with artSpace (durban) Gallery where Johannesburg based dance and performance artist Nhanhla Mahlangu will perform his acclaimed work “CHANT”.  Directed by Gerard Bester, the work is a site-specific dance theatre response to contemporary manipulations of nature, the use of technology, religion, tradition and politics to the point where our only spaces (living and in the mind) are crippled. It is a heartfelt and very beautiful word, sound and physical danced work that honours Mahlangu’s desire to leave a better world to his two daughters.

The artSpace event also offers a site responsive viewing of the outcome of a collaborative exchange between the Floating Outfit Project (Durban, South Africa) and Studios Kabako (Kisangani, Democratic Republic of Congo). Guided by Faustin Linyekula and Boyzie Cekwana, this laboratory programme has featured 9 dancers from both West and South Africa. Cekwana and Linyekula see this artistic space – intriguingly called  “Redefining … Homework” - as part of an on-going 15 year long conversations that asks the young artist involved to find their truth as they share (homework style?) what it means to be an artist living and working in Africa.

JOMBA! hosts its usual platforms of the Fringe (Tuesday 1 September) with 10 new works of 10 to 15 minute each, and the Youth Fringe (Sunday 30 August ). With over 30 entries for a coveted place in this year’s JOMBA! Fringe, the selection of only 10 works was a difficult task but means that the final selection offers a standard of dance theatre that is growing. The JOMBA! Youth Fringe takes place at the UKZN Open Air Theatre (entrance is free) and is a celebration of over 20 KZN based youth dance groups and the incredible dance work that they are doing.

JOMBA! also offers a full programme of workshops and master classes by all of the participating dancers and choreographers. For a full listing go the JOMBA page on www.cca.ukzn.ac.za. These workshops and classes are offered free of charge but booking is essential.

And a first for JOMBA! is a special dance lighting workshop hosted by USA based Christian Epps. Epps comes to JOMBA! with Chicago’s Deeply Rooted Dance Theatre team and his willingness to be here has him taking on a vital role in the technical team for the whole of the festival, and offering this dedicated lighting workshop for choreographers on the 31 August at the EliZabeth Sneddon Theatre. 20 participants were chosen from a very rigours application process.

Tickets are R60 and R45 (scholars/students/pensioners). Booking through Computicket (or at venue from one hour before).

All shows take place at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre at 7.30pm except on Wednesday  2 September at 6.30pm where it takes place at artSpace (Durban).

For more information, please go to www.cca.ukzn.ac.za and join us on Facebook  (JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience) and Twitter (Twitter@Jomba_dance).

JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience is organised by the Centre for Creative Arts (UKZN) with valuable support from the eThekwini Municipality.

-ens

Flatfoot Dance Company @ artSPACE durban

For the week 23 – 27 June 2014, Durban’s inimitable FLATFOOT DANCE COMPANY will be resident at artSPACE durban. In a meeting of dancers and fine artists, FLATFOOT will work in artSPACE durban giving local artists an opportunity to paint, draw and create around the dancers as they rehearse, dance and create choreography.  FLATFOOT will continue to work in their normal day routine and will open up their daily work process.

The week will involve session where artists can watch and engage the dancers in their daily rehearsals but there will also be specific sessions where the dancers will be a little more still to promote portraiture (see schedule below). 

The week will culminate in a final performance called “SOUTHERN EXPOSURE” by FLATFOOT DANCE COMPANY on Friday 27 June at 6.30pm (with bar facilities open) and curator Karen Bradtke will select some of the art works generated over the week to put on display in the gallery at the Friday event.  FLATFOOT will perform two works; “UGUHBU” by Sifiso Khumalo and “the inheritance of loss” by Lliane Loots.

Fees for artists to participate are 100 per day or R350 for the week and on June 25 there is a special portraiture session from 5.30pm - 7.30pm and the cost os R100.  Tickets for the performance on the 27 June are R50 or R25 for those taking part in the artist residency.

For enquires and bookings for the art residency, please contact artSPACE durban: 031 – 312 0793.

For enquires about the Friday night performance, contact Clare on 082 – 875 6065.

-ends

“Dialogues Africa” JOMBA! 2014 Dance and Choreography Residency

The University of KwaZulu-Natal, College of Humanities and the Centre for Creative Arts announces the invitation to apply to participate in …

“DIALOGUES AFRICA”
The JOMBA! 2014 Dance and Choreography Residency
Facilitated by Boyzie Cekwana (and various guests)

Invitation to apply for participation

The Centre for Creative Arts issues a call to Durban’s emerging choreographers to take part in an exciting three  week residency as part of the 16th Jomba! Contemporary Dance Experience.  This is part of the festival’s special ‘Mzansi’ focus, highlighting the strides made in South Africa’s contemporary dance arena in the 20 year’s of democracy and celebrating, particularly the sustained growth of Jomba! as a formidable platform for dance in the country.

“JOMBA! 2014 is a very special edition for the organising team in that we have decided to make a commitment to feature the very best of South African contemporary dance”.  Says Lliane Loots, Artistic Director of the festival  “The 2 week festival will offer a platform to local and national award winning South African artists in a deeply political move to support and nurture our home grown choreographers and dancers. This is also a huge gift to local audiences who would otherwise never get an opportunity to see some of these companies and artists; many of whom now lack any kind of funding to tour their work”.

Staying true to one of the founding principles of JOMBA!, this 16th edition of the festival presents its “DIALOGUES AFRICA” dance residency for eight choreographers from Durban. This residency is central to this years “Mzansi” JOMBA! focus and will contribute to the growth and support of choreographers working in the City. 

The residency is facilitated by Durban based, and internationally acclaimed teacher and choreographer, Boyzie Cekwana. Cekwana, whose international reputation as a dance maker who breaks boundaries and who challenges audiences, is delighted to be back in his home city of Durban to feed in and support the growth of the art form of contemporary dance which he has been very passionate about supporting on this continent. His recent and longstanding dance collaborations in Mozambique and the Congo have him bringing a unique perspective to his art and will richly feed into the “DIALOGUES AFRICA” JOMBA! 2014 residency. 

The “DIALOGUES AFRICA” JOMBA! 2014 residency is aimed at offering a nurturing and supporting engagement with artists working in dance and physical theatre who wish to deepen and grow their artistic practice through a series of “dialogues”. These “dialogues” will offer opportunities for creative exchange that will stimulate and offer support for the growth of the residency participants own choreographic voice and style.  

The residency will take the format of three week-long  sessions, understanding that the successful applicants will use time in between the contact weeks to continue to roll out their process and work on tasks set. JOMBA! also understands the need to support the growth of artists in South Africa (and Durban in particular) and so the final outcome of this residency will be hosted on the final night of the festival (Sunday 7 September 2014) where all the facilitators and residency participants will discuss about the process of the residency and will also show the first draft of their creations; the emphasis remains on process! The JOMBA! 2014 “DIALOGUES AFRICA” will also be documented and a short film of the process will be screened.

The 3 contact weeks are: 
WEEK ONE: 17 – 22 June (Tuesday to Sunday) 
WEEK TWO: 29 July – 3 August (Tuesday to Sunday)
WEEK THREE: 2 – 7 September (Tuesday to Sunday)
Note: the residency participants will be resident for the whole of the JOMBA! Festival (27 August to 7 September 2014) and will also participate in all workshops and master classes. 

The JOMBA! 2014 “DIALOGUES AFRICA” residency is offered FREE OF CHARGE to successful applicants 

Applications for the residency are now open! Please read the following information very carefully to assist you application (and to see if you meet the criteria for application!):

Applicants must be living and working in Durban , over 20 years old, must have choreographed a minimum of two contemporary dance works that have been shown on a public platform and must be free (9am to 4pm) on ALL three weeks listed above.

HOW TO APPLY: 
Applicants must send an e-mail application to Clare Craighead on Craighead@ukzn.ac.za

This electronic application is to contain the following documentation: A short CV (no more than 2 pages) - with a cell phone number and e-mail address; a small black and white head photograph (an ID photo is fine);; List of works already choreographed (to include title, place/platform performed etc.), a 500 word (only no more) motivation of why the applicant should be considered for this residency; the names and contact details (e-mail address is essential) of two people who will stand as referees– these should be people working in the performing arts industry, mentors, teachers or choreographers/dancers that the applicant has worked with. 

The deadline for email applications is Friday, May 2 by 4pm, with final outcome announced on 16 May, 2014. All applicants (whether successful or not) will receive an e-mail notifying them of the outcome.

-ends

For media enquiries only, please contact:
Sharlene Versfeld
Versfeld and Associates
Mobile: +27 (0) 83 326 3235
Tel: +27 (0) 31 811 5628
Email: sharlene@versfeld.co.za
Website: www.versfeld.co.za

15th Annual JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience 28 August - 8 September 2013

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

15th 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 15th 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.

On the local front, JOMBA! is very proud to be hosting  the 2013 Standard Bank Young Artist award winner for dance, Fana Tshabalala. His new work, INDUMBA, premiered at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown to critical acclaim. Working with his home dance company, Johannesburg based Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative; Tshabalala’s dance work is poetic encounter with African ritual and contemporary sensibility. Considered one of South Africa’s most fluid and elegant dancers, Tshabalala’s vision is a startling reminder of the confluence of style, form and African sensibility.

One of the gems of this years’ festival is the collaboration between local Durban based dancer and choreographer Desiré Davids who joins forces with French based Hélène Cathala in a soulful duet called B.L.E.N.D. These two experienced women artists, one ‘coloured’ and South African,  and one white and French, share the stage in a confrontation of their divergent histories. This drives them to really get to know one another but also, sometimes, drives them both into a void of personal and artistic incomprehension.

On the international front, this 15th edition of JOMBA! has a number for firsts! This will be the first edition of JOMBA! to host an American company, and in partnership with the U.S. Consulate in Durban and the U.S. Department of State’s Arts Envoy Program, JOMBA! is delighted to be hosting the Chicago based company Deeply Rooted Dance Theatre. Deeply Rooted will spend two weeks in Durban and will be part of JOMBA’s extended dance education and development programme run in conjunction with Flatfoot Dance Company. Deeply Rooted will travel to Flatfoot’s numerous dance programmes run in Umlazi, KwaMashu and Tugela Mouth. Over the two weeks, Deeply Rooted will share their dance skills and philosophy with over 600 KZN young dancers in an enriching cultural exchange.

Deeply Rooted’s invitation to JOMBA! will culminate in two stellar performances on the closing nights of the festival on 7 and 8 September. In a style that oozes memory, and the jazz history of the African American experience, Deeply Rooted, will present choreography that thread together some of their key signature dance works. Their partnership with Flatfoot Dance Company for JOMBA! will also see the six resident dancers of Flatfoot  joining Deeply Rooted in their performances after having spent two glorious weeks learning their repertoire and sharing styles and working methods.

Another first for JOMBA! 2013, and yet another  coup de grace of the festival, and an unprecedented treat for ballet and neo-classical dance lovers, is the featuring of Holland’s magnificent INTRODANS. World renowned for skill and virtuosity, INTRODANS bring a programme suitably titled “SUPERSTARS” which features five choreographies by five of Holland and Europe’s most influential dance makers in the form of Anaphase by Ohad Naharin, Evening Songs by Jiří Kylián, Nacho Duato’s Sinfonía India, Pas de Danse by Mats Ek and Polish Pieces by the Dutch Maestro Hans van Manen. INTRODANS’s reputation precedes them and Durban should be fighting to get tickets!

Europe’s finest come to JOMBA! in the form of firstly, Portuguese dancer Francisco Camacho and his EIRA dance company. Camacho, performing on the opening night of JOMBA!, brings a hard hitting solo dance theatre work called “The King In Exile”. Drawing its inspiration from the figure of Dom Manuel II, the last king of Portugal, this solo work is an exploration of contemporary political power that will no doubt speak to Africa. In this solo work, Camacho explores the transgressive power of the dancing body’s ability to shift identities that are captured in the traps of history and representation. This work is sure to be one of JOMBA! 2013’s most contentious talking points.

Secondly, European finery comes in the form of Swiss duo T42. Made up dancers Misato Inoue and Félix Duméril, their dance work is a confrontation with difference and the old ideas that European identity is singular. Misato’s own Japanese roots become the starting point of much of T42’s work and is the witty and sometimes ironic danced encounter between cultural misunderstanding.  Known for their technical virtuosity and dexterity as contemporary dancers, T42’s work has been singled out for its humour and for allowing space for laughter in battling the misunderstandings between East and West.

Another first for JOMBA! 2013, is an event collaboration with Durban’s artSPACE (durban) Gallery. Monday 2 September is a one off evening of site-specific dance work made for an audience who would like an up-close and personal encounter with dance. Featuring Musa Hlatshwayo and Vusi Makanya’s latest local dance offerings, the evening also features a specificially created solo by T42’s Swiss dancer Misato Inoue. Called “Swan”, this work hints at Misato’s Japanese Kabuki roots and is a very contemporary encounter with the duel nature of being ; the harking back to Swan Lake’s infamous black and white swans and to a female body caught in oppositions. Also on view at the JOMBA! @ artSPACE event , is a collection of award winning short one minute dance films from all over the globe curated by Jeannette Ginslov’s ScreenDance Africa.

JOMBA! hosts is usual platforms of the Fringe (Sunday 1 September) and the Youth Fringe (Saturday 31 August). With over 60 entries for a coveted place in this year’s JOMBA! Fringe, the selection of only 10 works was a difficult task but means that the final selection offers a standard of dance theatre that is growing. The JOMBA! Youth Fringe takes place at the Wiggins Community Hall in Cato Manor/Umkhumbane and is a celebration of over 28 KZN based youth dance groups and the incredible dance work that they are doing.

JOMBA! also offers a full programme of workshops and master classes by all of the participating dancer and choreographers. For a full listing please go to www.cca.ukzn.ac.za and go to the JOMBA! page. These workshops and classes are offered free of charge but booking is essential!

Finally, in promoting critical arts dialogue and writing about dance and the arts, JOMBA! runs its 4th year of the Dance Writing Residency. Six applicants have been selected and will be mentored through the festival as they create critical writing for both the JOMBA! Blog and for the JOMBA! Khaluma festival newspaper. JOMBA’s artistic director, Lliane Loots will also host the anticipated “JOMBA! Talks Dance” platforms with the various dancers and choreographers presenting work at JOMBA! These will be held directly after performances so please check the schedule for details.

For more information, please go to www.cca.ukzn.ac.za and join us on Facebook (JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience) and Twitter (Twitter@Jomba_dance).