The ‘Rosebank Performers’ have found their groove and a captive audience
By Edward Tsumele, CITYLIFE/ARTS Editor
There is no way you have not seen them in Rosebank, especially around the Zone Mall. They are impeccably dressed, whether in space suit type regalia or smart casual everyday clothes. But these performers’ act is always an eye catcher. You simply cannot ignore them. They are super cool, their choreography well thought out and superbly executed. If you do not observe meticulously, it is easy to conclude that you are actually seeing a statuesque portrait of a human figure created by a talented sculptor. They seem to be immobile. Not even a slight move of an eyebrow. Just static and staring blankly.
Next to their performance ‘stage” is off course a plastic bowl where, passersby, impressed by their stunning choreography, throw in money. Coins, but in most cases more.
I have always wondered who these talented young performance artists are and where did they learn this kind of stunning public performance art. They do not seem like formally trained performers, but their public performance is as entertaining and certainly as innovative as those from that graduate from our universities’ drama departments. I have seen both adults and children equally impressed by these performers of Rosebank, a name I am given them for the lack of a better name.
And therefore, as usual, on Monday, a Holiday, after having been at a hectic concert marketed as a Freedom Day Concert featuring mainly women artists, with the exception of the popular and neo-jazz ensemble iPhupho L’Ka Biko at Constitution Hill, I did my usual thing, which is to go to Rosebank, browse through books while having a beverage. This has become a ritual for me as I travelled back in time to the previous day’s festivities at the concert. That is where a number of Johannesburg’s art types converged to interact with the infectious sounds of Siya Makuzeni, the talented trombone player and increasingly a vocalist of note, classically influenced jazz artist Gabi Motuba, poet MoAfrika and of course iPhupho L’Ka Biko mesmerize the audience.
However, after immersing myself in reading, I though it time to go around the mall, not looking for anything in particular, but just walk around like an aimless lost soul while reflecting on the musical offerings of the previous day, and then I saw him. This time he was alone, standing still between the zone and Rosebank malls. His mates were not there, as usually they are four, sometimes up to six, doing what they know best, which is to stun shoppers with their public art performance.
And just as like when he is with his mates, the public was impressed, pockets and wallets were immediately turned up, with hands frantically searching for coins or notes to place into the plastic bowl next to him. The public was impressed, and in appreciation, the young man who is a sculptor suddenly became human. He walked. Not just any walk, but the moon walk of the type made popular in popular culture by the late Michael Jackson, the King of pop music. More pockets were searched and more notes and coins were deposited into the bowl by those impressed and who did not think twice to appreciate the performance by way of dishing out cash.
It is a small thing like this sort of thing by artists, trained or untrained that make one realise the power of art. Clearly these Performers of Rosebank do not have a sponsor. Are not receiving any money from anybody as a form of sponsorship, to do what they do on Sundays. Not from the National Arts Council. Not from the department of Sport, Arts and Culture and certainly not from the corporate. And not that they do not deserve such, but they are in fact unlikely to get any if they applied. Not with the sometimes, nonsensical requirements that these funding agencies require from artists to qualify for funding. However, these guys are putting up a show that could rival those one sees on the mainstream theatre stages, and from the look of things, they are earning a living from this stunning public performance.
What an unexpected stunning public performance I witnessed in Rosebank on a public holiday. My spirit was lifted as I realised what talent we have in our midst, a talent that of course needs nurturing, but if there is none, it always finds its way into the hearts and minds of the audience wherever it can. And they reward in cash in appreciation of a good show with minimal props.
