The Centre for Creative Arts and the JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience presentsJOMBA! MASIHAMBISANE DIALOGUES #324, 25 & 26 May 2023
By CityLIfe Arts Writer
JOMBA! MASIHAMBISANE DIALOGUES, a thought-provoking place for serious arts and dance dialogue that promotes change – hosted by the Centre for Creative Arts’ (UKZN) JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience, in partnership with the University of Warwick and the African Dance Disability Network – takes place online from 24 to 26 May 2023.
The JOMBA! dialogues, which is free and open to all, has as its focus – Integrated Dance Practices: Moving Centres aims to engage research, teaching practices, and performance making that looks into integrated dance and disability dance as an embodied form with a particular African focus, without being exclusive.
Hosted in the 25th anniversary year of the JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience, MASIHAMBISANE DIALOGUES features a series of keynote addresses, panel discussions, Q & A sessions, workshops and on-line performance pieces which engage with the idea ofwhat integrated dance is.
“Perhaps we automatically think of disability when we encounter the term integrated dance,” says curator Lliane Loots. “But in this series of dialogues, we are asking whether we could, should and even have broadened our approaches to integrated dance in more intersectional ways? And what would this mean practically for disability dance itself as practice, in teaching and in performance making”.
The JOMBA! dialogues features dancers and choreographers from all over the world working in integrated practices who will share their own practices; dance educators working with integrated training methodologies; researchers who are engaging the intersections between dance, disability, postcoloniality, decoloniality and new methodologies; and disabled and non-disabled dancers who can share how they have developed their own (amongst other key areas) practices, techniques, methods of training, and choreographic practices.
Three keynote speakers will feature: Prof. Yvette Hutchison (UK/SA – University of Warwick) who will provide the opening discussion and framing for the 3-day JOMBA! dialogues; Joseph Tebandeke (Uganda) – an Ugandan dancer and choreographer who will speak to his integrated dance practices, and Calvin Ratladi (South Africa) a dancer and theatre maker will be in dialogue with choreographer David April around their recent collaboration “Plunge Avatar”.
Panelists include Nadine McKenzie(Unmute Dance Company, South Africa), Gladys Agulhas(Dance Educator & Choreographer, South Africa), Ondiege Matthew(Dance Into Space, Kenya), Dr. Gerard Samuel(Centre for Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies, UCT, SA), Prof. Hershini Bhana(Departments of AADS and Women and Gender Studies, UT Austin, USA):Dr. Jessi Parrott(Independentperformer, creative and researcher, UK-SA) and Sydney Erlikh(University of Illinois Chicago,USA). They will engage in a variety of discussions – drawing on their own experiences, works and teachings around integrated dance.
Exciting news is thatPetra Kuppers(University of Michigan, USA) will facilitate a workshop based on Starship Somatics a community dance modality she developed during the early days of the COVID pandemic that looked for a way to create online environments for accessible, disability-culture-focused somatic creative movement. This workshop uses improvised movement (inner and outer movement, as is accessible and appropriate to the participant), dream journeys, sounding, writing, and drawing as transportation devices: firmly grounded in the sensory immediacy of our beds, sofas, floors and windows, and flying wide to honour ways of being of all kinds. All welcome, grounded in disability culture values – booking essential for this!
A number of abstracts or papers will be presented promising some robust discussions: Dr Sarahleigh Castelyn (University of East London, UK) presents “We need to talk about Giselle”in which she examines the mental illness presented by the popular classical ballet and how from “the choreographer to the reviewer, we are all responsible and accountable for the proliferation of negative stereotypes of madness and thereby adding to the stigma of mental illnesses, such as Bipolar.”
Phyllis Klotz (SIBIKWA Arts Centre, South Africa) presents a paper titled “Reflection on SIBIKWA’s inaugural 2022 ‘Body Moves’ Festival’ – tracing legacies of integrated art practices”. The Benoni based SIBIKWA Arts Centre, has a long history of supporting and nurturing community based integrated and disability dance, theatre and music initiatives. This paper/dialogues talks about this history that came to fruition in the 2022 inaugural ‘Body Moves Festival‘.
Zhiling Guo(Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, UK and ADDN) presents “Hearing Difference: a Gift to Applied Theatre”in whichshe looks at the contribution of Deaf culture to Applied Theatre using two projects from The Signdance Collective company as examples of “Deaf Gain”, a concept that refers to the contribution that Deaf culture can make not only to the empowerment of the Deaf community, but also to human society.
In her paper“Re-Imagining Dance Studies for the FET phase in Western Cape Education Department: Making moves for inclusion”, Bernice Gordon (Western Cape Education Department, South Africa) asks “How can education specialists align themselves to ensure the inclusion of differently-abled bodies to experience the benefits of Dance Studies through a strengthened Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement-CAPS?”
The JOMBA! MASIHAMBISANE DIALOGUES will belivestreamed to the JOMBA! YouTube Channel and can be accessed free of charge: https://www.youtube.com/jomba_dance or ona closed ZOOM IP for direct participants and for those who wish to apply to join and be present in the DIALOGUES room can contact Thobile Maphanga on thobimaphanga@gmail.com.
The Jameson Distillery on Tour Winter Edition coming to Hyde Park Corner
By CityLife Arts Writer
Hyde Park Corner is where The Jameson Distillery on Tour Winter Edition kicks off this May. the amazing process behind every drop of triple distilled, smooth tasting of Jameson Whiskey will be revealed to whiskey lovers… and those who are whiskey-curious too!
The Jameson Distillery on Tour Experience hosts a series of tailored, interactive experiences highlighting Jameson’s Irish heritage and craft that stretches over 240 years, hosted by knowledgeable brand ambassadors who embody the jovial Jameson spirit.
The experience is packed with explosive sensory moments, rich flavours and ample space for making new connections all on the roof top of one of Johannesburg’s most iconic shopping centres! The tour allows every guest to truly experience what makes Jameson Irish Whiskey unique. Grab a bite to eat at one of Hyde Park Corner’s many restaurants or enjoy a more casual meal from the sensational food trucks at the event. Of course, a night out wouldn’t be the same without some A-list local music acts. Click here to view the full music line-up for each day.
Now is the time to save the date, find the perfect outfit (hint: Hyde Park Corner is a fashion mecca, so we’ve got you covered there) and join us to discover Jameson like you’ve never experienced it before. The Jameson Distillery on Tour is the ultimate whiskey immersion for enthusiasts and novices alike, through tailored, interactive experiences which reveal the process behind creating the world’s smoothest Irish whiskey.
VENUE: Hyde Park Corner Rooftop, corner of William Nicol Drive and Jan Smuts Avenue in Hyde Park
DATES: Open Thursday, 18 May to Sunday, 21 May 2023 and Thursday, 25 May to Sunday, 28 May
TIMES:
- Thursdays: 17h30 to 23h00
- Fridays: 15h30 to 23h00
- Saturdays: 15h30 to 23h00
- Sundays: 13h30 to 21h00
TICKETS: Tickets can be purchased via Computicket
Please note: No under 18s permitted for this event
…. /ENDS
Hyde Park Corner Trading Hours:
Monday to Saturday: 9am – 6pm
Sundays and Public Holidays: 10am – 3pm
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Follow us on Twitter @HPCHydePark, Instagram @hpchydeparkcorner or keep up to date with our news on Facebook @hydeparkc … and don’t forget to use our hashtags #MadeForYou and #HydeParkCorner when you are sharing your unforgettable Hype Park Corner experiences