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Step this way for dance shows galore
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June 25, 2009
 By Adrienne Sichel
Do not be fooled.
Not all of the dance and unmissable performances, which could have audiences buzzing and international producers fighting duels, are locked into the formal Main and Fringe programming.
As art forms continue to collide in our contemporary dance, performance art, theatre, mime, puppetry and music genres, expect to find stand-out creativity in unusual places.
A prime example is the tirelessly inventive Brett Bailey and his Third World Bunfight, who return to Grahamstown with Blood Diamonds. This night-time site-specific adventure is listed under Performance Art.
Physical Theatre is also where a lot of the Fringe dance action is. Notably Juanita Finestone-Praeg and the First Physical Company's Inner Piece (which premieres in the intimate The Nun's Chapel); First Physical's Richard Antrobus's Stilted, directed by co-performer Andrew Buckland and Jane O'Connell Crewe's Carbon, from Wits.
Tucked away in Music Theatre is Magnet Theatre's Ingcwaba Lendoda Lise Cankwe Ndlela (The Grave of the Man is Next to the Road). Magnet's 2007 physical theatre masterpiece, Every Year, Every Day I Am Walking, which deals delicately, but potently, with xenophobic violence, will reach new audiences.
Since this is Africa, where music and dance are traditionally inseparable, don't miss national treasure Madosini Latozi Mphahleni and muso Dizu Plaatjies in Intersections: Swiss/Africa, a Main music encounter with the avant garde Ensemble BaBel.
Street Theatre pops up on The Fringe thanks to the exciting Ubom! Youth Company and Daniel Buckland. Find their Float at Fort Selwyn. Mainstream Street Theatre bursts with surprises, such as the enchanting The African Puppet Family, from Orange Farm (created with Paris-based Les Grandes Personnes) and the hair-crazy Spaniards of Osadia.
Dance gets unprecedented attention on the Main this year, reflecting its popularity and quality. The six selected contemporary works provide a strong sample of theatre dance which takes risks and also juggles with aesthetics.
Dada Masilo follows up her acclaimed Romeo and Juliet with Carmen, a full-length development of her Unravelling Carmen which was commissioned by the 2009 FNB Dance Umbrella.
Another Umbrella '09 favourite, Zebra, brings PJ Sabbagha back to his alma mater in collaboration with Russia's Ivan Estegneev. Expect to see gentler facets of male identity as two countries and contrasting cultures intersect, while Jay Pather's installation, Body of Evidence, tackles the marrow of political and social violence.
Rituals, rhythms and slave histories explode in Ma Ravan, which took the Reunion Island- based Taliipot Theatre Company three years to create and research. If you loved their The Water Carriers buy that ticket now.
For his Standard Bank Young Artist commission Ken Arok, Moving into Dance Maphotong (MIDM) resident choreographer, Thabo Rapoo, draws on his roots as a traditional African, pantsula and highly trained professional dancer.
The special ingredient is Prawiraguna, Indonesian classical dance, which he has studied in Surakarta.
Spoken word meets vintage Afro-fusion in Threads, which is choreographed by MIDM's Sylvia Glasser, Sonia Radebe and Muzi Shilii. Poet Lebo Mashile weaves her body and words into this audio-visual praise poem to dance and dancers.
On the Fringe, Debbie Turner's wildly popular Cape Dance Company (with works by Adele Blank, Veronica Paeper, Mamela Nyamza and Michael Thomas) and Cape Academy will pull in loyal fans.
As will the Rosenberg's Tap Talk Rhythm Company, who hail from Joburg.
Bringing their experience and experimentation are Inzalo Dance and Theatre Company's Moeketsi Koena and Gaby Saranouffi, with Pourikoipa & Eternal Link, La Rosa Spanish Dance Theatre in On the Edge and The Matchbox Theatre Collective's delightful Le Carnival de Ma Vie.
Enjoy!
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