We are now mid-festival but sadly cannot stay to see all of the performances. I am here for the longest stint but am still missing shows by Vincent Mantsoe, Dada Masilo and others. We have quite a busy schedule so keeping up with my blog has become a priority during my few free hours.

Today we had our second consortium meeting — a chance to hear from everyone around the table (and from several artist who sent news). Among us there is an amazing array of exciting thinking and work happening. Yerba Buena has just hired Marc Bamuthi Joseph as their new performing arts curator and we are all eager to see how he reinvents their programs.

Ken Foster fresh off the plane

651 Arts in hoping to move into their own space and establish more of an identity in their Brooklyn neighborhood.

Shay Wafer

Seattle Theatre Group is bringing a kickass program next season including MAPP’s Voices of Strength, Amadou & Mariam, Fela, Dance Theater of Harlem, and more. The Walker staff is rethinking their focus to reflect a more global perspective.

Vivian Philips

VSA Arts of New Mexico is conceptualizing a new mini series called Journeys featuring small works by international artists.

Cathy and Marj

Likewise the artists are deeply engaged in developing new work and dreaming big. Greg is fine-tuning Exit/Exist and has several other projects in the hopper. His big dream is to create a dance center is Soweto.

Gregory Maqoma and Phlip Bither

Boyzie is working on the final part of his trilogy and trying to live a saner life. Neli is exploring how to extend “Uncles & Angels” into a video installation and photographs for galleries. They are all and strategizing ways to change the arts culture in southern Africa to be more responsive to artists.

Boyzie Cekwana and Neli Xaba

Together, through honest dialogue, we renew our commitment to our shared goals and discover what the next steps might be.  Thanks to our new funding from the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation we will move forward introducing US artists into the mix in a more intentional way. We plan to gather again during the Danse Afrique Danse platform hosted by Cultures France in Joburg next November. We also hope to invite one of our African artist affiliates to the next National Performance Network meeting to introduce them to this important consortium of US artists and presenters.

Moving on… After a much needed afternoon rest we head off to see PJ Sabbagha and The Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative’s “One Night Stand”at the Wits Theater. The program notes describes this as “a provocative exploration of the many ways we are infected on a daily basis by the many viruses that invade our lives and take over our bodies.” PJ has been active in the fight against HIV/Aids.  In visiting with him earlier this week he admitted the piece was in an early stage of development and was quite chaotic and messy (his words). After seeing the piece I would have to agree. The dancers were terrifically athletic and daring but the piece seemed to have very little structure or, frankly, much identifiable connection to the theme articulated in the program. The music, run from the sidelines on a laptop, was repetitive, pounding electronica that did not enhance the action from my perspective.

I had loved PJ’s work during the 2010 Dance Umbrella and so wanted my colleagues to be wowed by his new show. Fortunately they are all sophisticated curators and could see the intelligence and intent behind the work.

Next Philip and I head off to Moyo Restaurant at Zoo Park to hear some local music. Philip seeks out music in every city he visits and had been trying hard to find the best venues here in Joburg. His sources told him a bunch of good musicians were gathering at Moyo tonight to jam. When we arrived we discovered one singer with his acoustic guitar just finishing his last set. The dinner crowd seemed little interested in his music, lovely as it was. Since we were there and our driver had departed we settled in for dinner and a chance to catch up one on one. The opportunity to really talk to one another is rare in our field. Most often when we are together it is at a conference where everyone is racing around seeing work or in a big group meeting.  I am always delighted when a chance comes to spend more quality time and hash over issues of common concern. We had another such opportunity in November 2010 when Philip, Marj and I were in the Masa Mara of Kenya.

Another day of torrential downpours and wild thunder and lightning keeps the atmosphere exciting and cool..  I am awakened each morning near 5am by the complex and melodic song of two birds calling to each other…wake up, wake up, the day is coming! After trying for a couple more hours of much needed but fitful sleep I rise for a glorious hot shower with a little yoga thrown in. We are sitting way too much, did I mention that already?

Neli, Boyzie, Vivian & Mamela

This morning we are off to a breakfast meeting with about 40 theater and dance artists at the Market Theatre organized by the director, Malcolm Purkey. There is a bit of confusion at the start as the restaurant we are supposed to gather in is closed. Our empty stomachs growl and coffee is needed by all. We finally get situated across the park in a Sophiatown café and much socializing ensues.  It’s a wonderful opportunity to meet a range of folks involved in the arts. I chat with a retired cultural attaché who serves on the Market Theatre board, and with Michelle Constant who direct BASA (Business and the Arts South Africa). I mention the informal network the affiliate artists are trying to create and their dire need for administration support to form some basic infrastructure. She seems enthusiastic and quickly formulates an idea for how to fund a one-year position to assist them. I lure Greg over to join us and am excited to think something might happen to help their nascent group develop.  Apparently the artists met with BASA last year but nothing came of it. Well one must keep at it and I hope they will.

In the afternoon Neli takes myself, Cathy and Mamela out to Sandton, a ritzy northern suburb of high end shopping malls, the US Embassy, galleries, hotels, etc. We visit the original Goodman Gallery, one to the most established galleries in Joburg where there is a show of work by women including two stunning photographs of Neli’s piece, “Uncles and Angels”. The curator, a smart young woman, joins us for coffee and fills us in on recent shows and activities at the gallery. Neli seems to be quite connected to the visual arts scene. The Goodman is a beautiful space –all white everywhere with nice library.

We move on to a swanky little café for some lunch and enlightening conversation about our individual family histories. We are relishing the chance to get to know one another better and go deeper into our understanding of how we have become who we are. Without sharing any personal details I will just say that the potential for violence is omnipresent in the lives of many people on this continent — especially women. As Americans we are extraordinarily fortunate to live in relative safety and we should not take it for granted for a moment.  For us the violence and abuse is covert if it exists whereas here it is very overt. Listening to stories of the harsh realities and threats that must be endured here adds a powerful dimension and rational for the work we are seeing. These issues must be exposed and what better way than through performance.

Back at the Market we attend performances by Alfred Hinkel and Robin Orlin, both dance icons in South Africa. Alfred’s piece “Dansmettieduiwels”  (an unholy mass) is based on the theme of the stereotypical Roman Catholic priest as a child sexual predator. The piece was created in response to the suicide of a young man who grew up in one of the local missions schools outside of Capetown and was becoming a priest. Set to the sacred music of Johann Sebastian Bach, mostly his Mass in B minor, and with a backdrop of iconography from the Vatican and Roman Catholic Church, the ugly story unfolds through the demented lens of this ‘unholy’ worldview. We see Adam and Eve, Cupid/Eros the erotic angel, the commanding and masculine priest/overlord, and a boy who is ultimately and quite brutally raped.  Sexually suggestive acts course through the work. The dancing is spectacular and very physical.

Alfred has trained these dancers in his technique which he has been developing for more than 30 years, first at JazzArts, the company he directed in Capetown, and now on his own. He is teaching a workshop for about 20 young dance artists in conjunction with Dance Umbrella. One of them is Lucky Kele who has spent two summers at BDF.  From Lucky’s description the approach to training and creation is based on improvisation and internal sensing — working from the inside out. One can see watching the dancing that there is a strong technical foundation but also a level of embodiment and commitment to the characters. The boy is particularly astonishing, as he looks all of 13 and has only studied with Alfred for 5 months, we find out later. In fact, he is 17 but still he does an amazing job of holding his own among the more accomplished and older dancers.

Once again in this work we are confronted with a harsh reality of life here – the sexual abuse of children that is overlooked and left unprosecuted in most instances. Catholic missions dot the countryside every 200 kilometer or so. While pedophilia among priests has been a major story in the US and the British Isles, clearly it is going on everywhere and must be exposed and addressed worldwide.

From this hideous and beautifully wrought work we go directly to experience Robin Orlin’s signature work, “Daddy, I’ve Seen This Piece Six Times Before And I Still Don’t Know Why They’re Hurting Each Other”. From the sublime to the ridiculous, Robin’s work features the originally cast of Neli Xaba, Gerard Bester, Toni Morkel and others in a completely over the top, totally whacky, wildly manic slapstick performance event that is absurd, hilariously and exhausting. We are crowded into a small room with a giant raised staged that takes up most of the space. The audience stands around the perimeter and is often cast into the action.  The opening image is of a very tall Neli (standing on stool it turns out) center stage in a long red velvet evening gown putting on the airs of the ultimate diva and bossing everyone around. Actor/director Gerard serves as master of ceremonies hopelessly attempting to corral the performers into behaving. In the ensuing hour an a half we are treated to leopard undies, dancing plastic windup duckies, a frenetic African dance routine by 16 youngsters, a stage methodically covered with hundreds red plates, and a synchronized dance with platters (a la 60’s variety TV choreography) that is shot from above and viewed on four monitors hung in each corner of the room…need I go on. When a 300 lbs woman from the audience is brought on stage to do a romantic duet with Gerard to some sappy love song, and ends up astride him doing the bump and grind, the whole audience loses it in howling laughter.

This nutty piece has toured the world, apparently with wild success. It helped launch Neli’s career in Europe and was considered worthy of a revival this year at the Umbrella. In fact, it sold out so quickly they added show this afternoon. I guess everyone needs a good laugh now and then.

Time is racing by and there is so much I would like to see and do here. But our focus is on dance, dance and more dance and so far we have not been at all disappointed with the work. Our colleagues Ken Foster from Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, Philip Bither from the Walker Arts Center in Minneapolis, Vivian Philips from Seattle Theater Group and Shay Wafer from 651 ARTS in NY  have all arrived. Sadly our friend Joan Frosch must leave today.

I started the day with a much needed walk around the neighborhood. Despite the heat and humidity it felt great to take a brisk walk as we have been doing way too much sitting and my body is complaining vociferously. We dancers know when our psoas is unhappy!

We gathered for a lunch meeting at The Lucky Bean to discuss next steps with our Africa Consortium partners. The conversation among this group is always rigorous, thoughtful and full of heart. I am honored to be in the mix, to have these extraordinary opportunities to come to Africa and to collaborate with my peers to learn, discover, support and present contemporary choreographers from across the continent.

Joan Frosch, me and Philip Bither at the Lucy Bean

We continued our meeting with Neli Xaba, Boyzie Cekwana and Gregory Maqoma over at the Dance Forum the home of Dance Umbrella and Vuyani Dance Theatre. Three of the most important dance organizations in Joburg (Dance Forum, Dance Factory and Moving Into Dance) have spaces side by side  across the park from the Market Theatre in a sort of arts district. This area has been greatly enhanced over the last several years and more improvements appears to be underway.

During our meeting we had a chance to hear about the recent activities of these affiliate artists and what has be going on vis a vis support for dance. For some the National Arts Lottery has been a god sent.  Gregory’s company, for example, has received a three year span of support as has PJ Sabbagha’s Hidden Angle Collaborative. Others are not so fortunate and struggle to make and show work. As with life, politics are unavoidably present coursing through the conversation.  Artists are deeply frustrated by the lack of support, understanding and infrastructure for the field. There is no mechanism for touring, few opportunities to perform in their home countries or across the continent and few options for developing new work. Yet things are better in South Africa than in many other places on the continent and artists persevere finding ways to realize their projects. Our American artists could learn some things from these resourceful and determined art makers.

What strikes me most about the work of African contemporary artists is how deeply grounded and informed it is by harsh realities of everyday life — violence, injustice and corruption. The desire to expose, comment and create change is a profound thread coursing through much of their work. The more I learn about the lives of these individuals and the conditions in which they are working the more my respect and admiration grows and the more committed I become to their artistic voices.

This is especially true of the women for whom being an artist requires incredible grit and determination. Unlike in the states, here men dominate dance and outnumber women in great numbers.  There are scores of terrific male dancers. I have chosen for the present to focus on these fierce, charismatic female choreographers who have not had the same exposure in the US to date. Similarly, our consortium partner, MAPP International, will  launch a  US tour this fall of ‘Voices of Strength’ a two night festival of work by women featuring artists from South Africa, Momzabique, Morocco and Mali.

Back to the present… after a torrential thunderstorm (which are a nearly daily occurrences here) we made our way to Dance Factory for a shared program featuring new works by Mari-Louise Basson, Fana Tshabalala, Boyzie Cekwana and Mdu Mtshali. The evening offered some terrific dancing.  I appreciated the tone and performance commitment of Fana’s piece “Gates of Hell” but it was Boyzie’s three minute “Thinking Out Loud Experiment,” that contained the seeds of an interesting work by a mature artist.

It is a hot an muggy day here at the end of South Africa’s summer. We have lovely hard rains nearly every 24 hours — usually at night. This beautiful old neighborhood of Melville is filled with flowering trees and shrubs and interesting homes all behind heavy walls and gates. Each house has a security sign and often dogs.  Men are posted around the neighborhood to keep watch.  But the feeling is one of serenity and I feel very safe wandering around exploring the streets.

Last  night we attended the Dance Umbrella fundraising gala and performance at the Market Theatre where most events have been taking place. This is a wonderful old building with a grand foyer, and a bar and restaurant that serve as the gathering place where audiences and artists mingle.

The gala was much more modest than in 2010, due no doubt to the loss of their largest funder FNB.  Director Georgina Thomson and project manager David April hosted the event that was smattered with videos and live performances excerpts. All the dancers were spectacular but my favoritel was an excerpt from Gregory Maqoma’s piece “Skeleton Dry”.  We were eager to lend a hand and talk with current and potential sponsors about the importance of DU in the ecology of Southern African dance but sadly none of the staff seemed available to introduce us to their sponsors.

Afterwards we gathered on 7th St. in Melville for dinner and lots of catching up

l-r: Shay Wafer, Ken Foster, Vivan Philips, Cathy Zimmerman

with Boyzie Cekwana, Neli Xaba and Mamela Nyamza. Nothing takes the place of just getting to hang out with these amazing artists and learn more from them about their lives, their work and conditions on the ground. We are very much looking forward to our two days of meetings with them that begin tomorrow. It has been such a gift to have had  major support of the Doris Duke Foundation, NEA and now Robert Sterling Clark to convene, learn, exchange and develop partnerships.

On Saturday evening we returned to see Neli Xaba and Gregory Maqoma’s pieces for a second time. I always prefer to watch work several times over to better dig into the layers of meaning and material. Just like watching a film I am so taken with the surface and the action the first time around that I often need another look to take in all that is offered. I also so appreciate the living quality of performance and the subtle (and not so subtle) changes that keep the work evolving and alive in the moment. I was able to confirm and clarify my impressions to share with my colleagues and to inform my conversations with the artists that I hope to have in the coming days.

Gregory Maqoma

Having an opportunity to spend time with Neli and Greg, along with the many other artists who are here with whom we have history,  is an incredible privilege that speaks to our shared desire to build long term relationships and enduring partnerships.  We are slowly building up our knowledge of the contexts in which they work, deepening our understanding of the issues that drive their work, and growing our friendships. It is an amazing experience.

Neli Xaba

Yesterday (Sunday) we had a casual breakfast on the terrace with time to catch up, process and plan. Just being able to sit outdoors in the balmy air is a great relief and pleasure for me coming from a Maine winter. I feel hugely better and different in this climate.

Then it was off  to the Rosebank Mall which includes an African craft market and an enormous flea market as well as a typical mall. My approach is to survey the whole market and then decide where to shop. I remembered certain items or vendors I hope to re-find and sure enough we did.

Many of the craft stalls carry the same items and I am quickly overwhelmed by the plethora of merchandise on display. It becomes a blur that I must wade through to ‘see’ what I am looking for.  Looping back around i honed in on the colorful, leather-wound bracelets and beaded, ball necklaces I had hoped to find again. Cathy and I also found nifty cotton dresses that will be perfect for a variety of summer activities –so all in all a rewarding shopping adventure.

We returned to our favorite lunch joint, The Lucky Bean, for a leisurely lunch and more brainstorming about future consortium plans and projects.  And then it was off to The Old Stock Exchange downtown to experience Jay Pather’s “Qaphela Caesari” (translation Beware Caesar), a site-specific event that began on the second floor with a series of thin installations in abandoned, empty offices. Among the more interesting rooms was one with a series of empty suits hanging from the ceiling and two figures sprawled on the floor. In another room a secretary was shredding paper until it began devouring the space.

We then moved en masse to the trading room – a gigantic, mysterious space that resembled an odd sort of place of worship with stained glass windows and pews (stalls for the traders) and lots of strange equipment.  For the next hour and a half the performance unfolded in a series of shifting scenes around the space with a cast of 15 performers including an exotic dancer, a sangoma, and a Shakespearean actor. The audience was invited to shift their location and focus repeatedly as scenes moved from the main floor to the pews to the balconies where the trading boards were located. Video screens were mounted around the room with scenes from the child protests in Soweto among the footage. A dark, melodic and evocative score filled the space beautifully amplifying the action. There were big unison sections of very physical and virtuosic dancing by the full cast (on the dirty, concrete floor, which was distressing to me). Stretchy strips of fabric were employed throughout the work as metaphorical umbilical cords (or chains) binding the players together and to the story, and providing an effective architectural definition to the space. Extractions of text from Julius Caesar were sprinkled through the work as were elements of traditional ritual, exotic dancing, popular song (Barbra Streisand’s “The Way We Were” lip-synched by a drag queen) and more.

In the program notes Pather says “The themes of political betrayal, power and prophesy explored through image, dance and sound found resonance in The Old Stock Exchange. Like much of South Africa today it is a space of contradiction and fragmentation as much as one of coherence and possibility.”

The final scene brings the audience into the main foyer of the building, a space with lots of glass, external red elevators carrying passengers up an down, and a mile high ceiling. Here a rock band played loud music while people sipped wine and wondered what now???

Dance critic, Adrienne Sichel offered a smart and informative Q & A with choreographer, Pather at the conclusion.

Our night ended with a little nibble of mediocre sushi on 7th St before retiring for some much needed rest.

For a different perspective on our time here in Joburg check out Marj Neset’s blog at: http://mneset.wordpress.com/