Process of improvisation and vulnerability within a safe creative space allows performance artist Sami Maseko to access deeper layers of her artistic practice

Power of collaboration showcased through sound and movement.

By Tonderai Chiyindiko

Titled Wake Up Child, this “fusion of sonic and movement connection” demonstrated the power of collaboration in a show which was lapped up by a small but appreciative crowd recently at 27 Boxes in Melville.

The experimental showcase between four artists, namely well-travelled American music therapy proponent Mar, actor and movement specialist Sami Maseko, jazz saxophonist Karabo Mohlala, DJ and art curator Moefi Mokgautsi popularly known as ‘Bilal Da Dj’. The staging was unusual but it worked as the audience had a ‘birds eye view’ of this powerful and eclectic performance.

For co-collaborator Sami Maseko, the process of improvisation and vulnerability within a safe creative space allowed her to access deeper layers of her artistic practice.

“The offer was to enter a space of vulnerability… (therefore) in this vulnerable sharing and creating as an inciting moment, (thus) as a movement artist it was a welcome challenge to deepen focus in offering physical phrases with an integrity to follow the impulse with deep acceptance as it (the performance) takes shape…”, says Maseko.

For Mar, performing with these performers for the first time is something she feels speaks to her artistic practice as a person who believes in the power of impromptu and unrehearsed connection between artists, even ones she may have never worked with before.