14/03/2023
Questioning Inequality Through Dance...
On the weekend of the 3rd and 4th of March, we honored an invite to The Stable Theatre Arts Centre in Durban. In The Last Hour - SOLD , is a poetry and dance theatre show that brings light to a few inequality driven power systems that influence the different gender dynamics found in society today.
The show, as written and directed by Durban University of Technology alumni, Philile Khethiwe Njikija, funded by the National Arts Council of South Africa (NAC) PESP grant, in partnership with the Centre for Creative Arts and KwaMashu School of Dance Theatre is one for the books.
Philile is one of Durbans emerging art managers, and theatre practitioners who promises to offer more to the Durban art community in the near future. The practitioner and her team blessed us with a delightful evening at the theatre with their dynamic contemporary dance and poetry theatre show. Accompanied by a red carpet ambience with complimentary drinks and a snack bar as an added bonus.
The infusion of movement by the dancers (Kwenza Senzo Nzama, Thandeka Maqebula and Anele Makhanya, KwaMashu School of Dance Theatre (KMSDT) alumni, as well as Mandisa Mngoma, Durban University of Technology alumni) with the play of words by the attention grabbing voice of Wandile Nodliwa was a master combination. The show also featured music by the legendary Madala Kunene, fondly known as Bafo, and although it is not a political show, it still managed to expose some effects of inequality and colonialism on gender in Africa.
The show is a powerful contribution by the producer and director Khethiwe Njikija, and her artistic voice was clear for everyone who attended the two shows. The standing ovation on both nights was a direct indication of the audiences appreciation of the piece of art. It was also appreciation for the investigation of the different power dynamics between male and female that were unpacked on that stage.
The sixty minutes long work of art managed to remind the audience of the essence of humanity in Africa, and the dancers use of their bodies definetly emphasized the notion that βumuntu ngumuntu ngabantuβ. As the A Team Art Academy we look forward to experiencing more of Miss Khethiwe Philile Njikijas art and we definitely can't wait to partner with her majesty!!!
πΈ: Val Adamson