Streets of a rural Mpumalanga town transformed into a vibrant oasis of dance performances

By Funeka Bambalele

The My Body My Space: Public Art Festival brought the quiet and unremarkable town of Emakhazeni in Mpumalanga to a standstill this past weekend.

 This annual event, which features performances in both public and unconventional spaces, disrupted the usual rhythm of the area. Despite the chilly and damp weather characteristic of Emakhazeni, aptly named The Place of Cold, a large crowd gathered to relish the experience.

In a town that typically lacks entertainment options, the weekend festivities transformed into a vibrant celebration for locals, who were joined by numerous dance enthusiasts from Johannesburg. If you were in the vicinity over the weekend and observed individuals moving in unusual ways in the streets or public areas, rest assured they were not acting irrationally; rather, they were participating in a performance designed to both entertain and educate.

Although the primary festival commenced on Friday evening, activities leading up to the main event began earlier in the week with workshops held at various educational institutions.

The My Body My Space Public Art Festival marks a decade since its establishment in Ekurhuleni, Johannesburg, in 2015. Each year, the festival adopts a specific theme, and this year’s focus was on climate change and human rights.

The event was inaugurated by the acclaimed dancer and choreographer, Lulu Mlangeni, who set an inspiring tone for the occasion. Mlangeni showcased a performance titled Bloodline at Sabbagha Farm, and the piece examines the intricate relationships between ancestry, identity, and cultural heritage.

Through movement and narrative, the piece highlights the complexities of intergenerational trauma, and the strength found in resilience. Following this, the performance titled Breath (Hema) was presented, a collaborative work by Mandisa Prosperity Mashaba and Mandylin Productions. This piece explores the emotional, physical, and psychological connections formed through breath, conveyed through spoken word, movement, music, and visual projections.

In keeping with the festival’s ethos of challenging conventions and pushing creative boundaries, the third performance started next to a vegetable garden. The performance further moved inside the vegetable garden.

Titled Solitude-Glaring, it was presented by a versatile dancer Smangaliso Ngwenya. Two more performances were presented before award-winning dance legend Vincent Mantsoe wrapped it in style with Desert Poems. The piece encapsulates the austere allure and enigmatic tranquillity of an environment characterised by extremes.

On a chilly, drizzly Saturday, attendees arrived on time for a series of walkabouts and dance performances. To fully enjoy these activities, it was essential to wear comfortable footwear, carry a large water bottle, and bring an umbrella.

 The performances started with Obusitswe and it was followed by a variety of acts along the main road of Machadodorp town. Performances continued on the main road of Machadodorp and public parks until lunchtime, at which point the audience took a break to replenish their energy after an extensive walk.

After lunch, the program resumed in the schoolyard. As evening approached, the performances relocated to Kloppenheim Country Estate, where six additional acts were presented before the mist and rain disrupted the event, prompting the organizers to conclude the night.

 Initiated by PJ Sabbagha in 2015, this event in Emakhazeni has evolved into one of the most celebrated gatherings in Mpumalanga. Sabbagha, a recipient of the Standard Bank Young Artist award in the dance category, left a comfortable life in Johannesburg to establish a project that has significantly impacted the community in Emakhazeni.

He said; “PJ there was a bunning desire to work in a more meaningful way to move away. We began to explore some rural work in 2013. There was an idea to move here, which was inspired by the fact that my parents bought a farm here. We started this journey with research with Anthea trying to find what are challenges in the area.”

The Sabbagha Farm which hosts most of the events has a dance studio, dance deck outside, admin office and cottage which is also used by people who are in the residency program.  Moving the festival into a rural area of Mpumalanga has brought awareness of dance and performance among young and old. There is a high level of appreciation and understanding from both young and old when watching a dance piece being performed.

My Body My Space Public Art Festival is one of the successful events that attract tourists to the area but staging the first one in 2016 was a challenge. Sabbagha shared with Citylife Arts that he had to bring in people like Fana Mokoena to do workshops in schools.

“The first one was small and with young people embracing it.  The rest of the community was not buying in. I remember our first workshop that Fana Mokoena did, it had three kids. Now we have 800 school children attending a week and 2000 a month. This is how big the festival has grown. To make it work, we made sure that the festival is not just a standalone program. There are workshops and performances during the year, and we engage with school kids and parents. This is how we built a strong relationship.”

“Since we do monitoring and evaluation with learners and parents, we realised that through our program discipline, school marks and home life has improved. Parents say the kids now do their chores and have a lot of respect.”