Category: | Art |
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Region: | Gauteng |
Town: | Braamforntein |
Cover Charge: | R 60.00 |
Contact Details: | Neli Mkhawane: info@forgottenangle.co.za |
Booking Details: | Reserve your seat with Neli Mkhawane on info@forgettenangle.co.za |
INNOVATIVE FATC DANCE BRINGS UNITY Phuma-Langa, which runs in September, is an exciting new work putting a new spin on South Africa’s two most favourite subjects - division and reconciliation. The Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative (FATC) presents a provocative new work titled Phuma-Langa, created by Mamela Nyamza, in residence at The Ebhudlweni Arts Centre in Emakhazeni, Mpumalanga. This thought-provoking production is funded by the National Lotteries Commission. Nyamza, who also designed, choreographed and directs Phuma-Langa says, “During the Apartheid era and even still African names are misspelt and mispronounced by non-lingua people.” One popular mispronunciation is Mpumalanga, which English-speaking South Africans tend to call “Maphumalanga”. This is the inspiration behind the title of the dance piece Phuma-Langa, which is an African word meaning “rise the sun” or “sunrise”. “I deliberately named the piece Phuma-Langa because it’s all about the revival of language, art and culture, which I believe can go a long way to create peace, harmony and stability in our country,” Nyamza explains. As a young democracy, South Africa is at cross-roads on all social levels. Race relations intolerance is at its peak and the nation’s moral fibre is at its lowest due to political impasse and chronic corruption. Phuma-Langa blows this theme wide open while calling into question the serious need for a renewed reconciliation amongst all South Africans and ultimately a reconstruction of the country’s collective soul. To bring a meaningful artistic theme to the piece, Nyamza drew inspiration from the Ndebele culture among other diverse historical South African experiences, as a way of depicting renewed social cohesion. “My hope is to be innovative in this production from the performances to the message I want to get across. I am trying to reach a milestone where we can revive and promote the diminishing good within our various cultures,” she says. Talented FATC dancers, Nicholas Aphane, Shawn Mothupi, Lorin Sookool, Thulani ‘Lathish’ Mgidi, Nomfundo Hlongwa and Francesca Matthys, bring to life Nyamza’s concept of Phuma-Langa. And costume-cum-production designer Sasha Ehlers as well as lighting designer Thabo Pule add their own unique flair to the piece. “Special thanks go to Thulani for helping me with the basic Ndebele movements and answering all my questions about his culture. I am also grateful for each performer’s creative input. A true collaboration,” says Nyamza. “Also thank you to my partner Nomsa Hani and my friend Tozama Dyantyi for helping stimulate my concept.”
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Venue Name: | Emakhaya Theatre, 19th floor, University Corner Building |
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Street Address: | Cnr Jorrison |
On Thursday, 31 March the South African Cultural Observatory (SACO) released its much- awaited CCI Mapping Study to the media and industry at an event in Newtown, Johannesburg.
The Apartheid Museum has reopened its doors to the public and is encouraging as many people to visit and tour the facility. The museum closed its doors in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nkosinathi Innocent Maphumulo, popularly known as Black Coffee made South Africa proud once more with winning a Grammy Award at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards Ceremony organised by the United States National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences.
The South African Cultural Observatory was established to undertake economic research for the cultural and creative industries in South Africa. The kind research we conduct provides such information as to the economic size of the sector, number of jobs in the sector or transformation. We publish the reports on our website and in various media platforms, including this newsletter, with a view to empower industry stakeholders with information that we hope they will find useful, informative and can be relied upon when making decisions that affect the sector.
This edition of The Cultural Observer is published during an interesting but complex international environment. While on the positive side the world has seen Covid-19 infections numbers subside, we are witnessing a war that has a devasting impact to the world economy.