9 771607 519004
12015
SA R36,90 (incl. VAT) - Dec 2015 / Jan 2015
25 YEARS OF MAQOMA MAGIC
Arts education - creative foundations
Our DNA tells us that we are all 99.9% alike because we all share one common ancestor. Dig deeper and learn more at the ALL FROM ONE Exhibition.
Our DNA tells us that we are all 99.9% alike because we all share one common ancestor. Dig deeper and learn more at the ALL FROM ONE Exhibition.
Our DNA tells us that we are all 99.9% alike because we all share one common ancestor. Dig deeper and learn more at the ALL FROM ONE Exhibition.
WORlD SymPhONy SeRieS Summer SeASON 2016
making music together. 031 369 9438 • www.kznphil.org.za
WiTh
OuTSTANDiNg
SOlOiSTS
AND STAR CONDuCTORS, The KZN PhilhARmONiC ORCheSTRA Will PReSeNT The SummeR SeASON Of
iTS
ReNOWNeD
WORlD
SymPhONy SeRieS 2016 fROm 18 feBRuARy TO 31 mARCh.
ThuRSDAy 18Th feBRuARy 2016 Conductor: Wolfram Christ Soloists: Pieter Schoeman (violin) Anmari van der Westhuizen Joubert (cello) weber Oberon: overture Brahms double concerto Brahms Symphony no. 2 ThuRSDAy 25Th feBRuARy 2016 Conductor: Wolfram Christ Soloist: Olga Kern (piano) rachmaninoff ‘the rock’, op. 7 rachmaninoff Piano concerto no. 1 dvorák Symphony no. 7 ThuRSDAy 3RD mARCh 2016 Conductor: Alexei Ogrintchouk Soloist: Alexei Ogrintchouk (oboe) mozart Symphony no. 24 dvorák wind Serenade Bellini oboe concerto haydn Symphony no. 104 ThuRSDAy 10Th mARCh 2016 Conductor: James Ross Soloist: farida Bacharova (violin) Beethoven overture to Fidelio mendelssohn Violin concerto ives Symphony no. 2
Bongani Tembe, Artistic Director “The KZN Philharmonic is committed to enriching the cultural life of South Africa’s diverse audiences by presenting world-class concerts and implementing education and community engagement programmes.”
Single tickets priced from R55 – R220 are available at Computicket. All concerts commence at 7:30pm in the Durban City hall. Pre-concert talks are held in the Durban City hall at 6:15pm. The City hall precinct, including surrounding parking garages, is patrolled by a dedicated security team.
SuBSCRiBeRS eNJOy A 25% DiSCOuNT AND TheRe ARe fuRTheR DiSCOuNTS fOR PeNSiONeRS AND STuDeNTS
ThuRSDAy 17Th mARCh 2016 Conductor: James Ross Soloists: David Selleras (saxophone) Chris Duigan (piano) Stephane Pechaux (percussion) Gershwin American in Paris Gershwin rhapsody in Blue Yoshimatsu cyberbird concerto Gershwin Porgy and Bess: a Symphonic Picture ThuRSDAy 31ST mARCh 2016 Conductor: Daniel Boico Soloist: Daniel gortler (piano) mussorgsky Night on Bald mountain Beethoven Piano concerto no. 1 rachmaninoff Symphony no. 2
Subscription bookings are available telephonically from the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra offices on 031 369 9438
James Ross
Anmari v d Westhuizen Joubert
David Selleras
Olga Kern
Chris Duigan
Some of the artiStS featured in the KwaZulu-natal Philharmonic’S Summer SeaSon 2016
Wolfram Christ
The KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra
Stephane Pechaux
Pieter Schoeman
Daniel Boico
EDITOR’S NOTE A Special Moment
A
t the recent Arts & Culture Trust Awards evening,
time. How Mekoa’s renowned band, the Jazz Ministers, was
I was privileged to hand over the Lifetime
repeatedly invited to perform at the Newport Jazz Festival
Achievement Award for Arts Advocacy, sponsored
in New York but Mekoa was denied a passport each year. In
by Creative Feel, to Dr Ramakgobotla John Mekoa. While arts advocacy can be quite broadly defined, when
1976, sole parliamentary member of the Progressive Party and liberal South African anti-apartheid activist, Helen Suzman,
we originally had the award in mind our intention was to
personally got involved. That year, the Jazz Ministers played
recognise someone who has continually championed the
during the Bicentennial Celebrations of the United States.
Dr Ramakgobotla John Mekoa, ACT Lifetime Achievement Award winner for Arts Advocacy
Dingaan Khumalo, Dr Johnny Mekoa, Lore Watterson and Jayesperi Moopen. Photographs by John Hogg
support of the arts. We felt that the award should go to
In 1986, Mekoa became a full-time musician and started
someone who has ‘made the arts happen’ behind the scenes,
teaching at FUBA (Federated Union of Black Artists), the
someone who is not always recognised for the hard work
only school for young, talented musicians at that time. He
that they put in to make the arts happen. Someone who is
then headed to the University of Natal where Mekoa, already
continually giving back and making a real difference to the
a fully grown and family man, enrolled at the University of
South African arts scene. Someone who has a vision as to
Natal School of Music. Four years later, he became the first
how the arts can be sustainable, seeks support for the arts,
black person to earn a degree in music at the institution.
explores new avenues of expression and, most importantly, has a passion for the arts. The inaugural Arts Advocacy Award was given to Mandie
Following this, Mekoa was granted a Fulbright Scholarship to study jazz pedagogy at the Indiana University School of Music. After completing his masters, Mekoa returned to South
van der Spuy in 2014 for her great support of all forms of the
Africa, where he established the Music Academy of Gauteng
arts. Who better to receive it in 2015 than Johnny Mekoa,
(MAG) on the East Rand. The Academy’s mission is to provide
a great jazz musician who has spent his life trying to teach
a stepping-stone for young people into tertiary education or
music to young people and who finally succeeded – in spite
the music industry. Today, MAG is one of the few remaining
of a very difficult, hostile environment for years.
community-based music education NGOs.
In his acceptance speech, Mekoa reflected on his life and
After a start in an old rundown building, support from
career; how he as a black musician was banned from playing
the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF)
in white clubs under apartheid. How the forced removals of
enabled the academy to move to a better facility in 2000 and,
black people from their homes, the shutting down of events
as Mekoa says, the rest is history.
and venues, all worked against a vibrant cultural scene at the
Lore
8 / Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016
A Christmas Celebration B
ack by popular demand, The Playhouse Company wraps up the festive season with A Christmas Celebration, a star-studded Christmas extravaganza for the whole family that is set to
light up the Playhouse Opera Theatre stage for a bumper six shows from 19 to 24 December. Choreographed by Sean Bovim, A Christmas Celebration stars multi-award winning international singer, Judith Sephuma, with Damon Beard from East Coast Radio as Master of Ceremonies. Featuring the full KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Playhouse Chorale and the dancers from the Playhouse Dance Residency, this Christmas variety spectacular stars over 150 of the cream of South Africa’s musicians and dancers, including Bongani Tembe, Andile KaMajola, Neville D, Raphael Vilakazi, Filipa
KZN Philharmonic Orchestra
van Eck and Nozuko Teto. The show is being directed by South African theatre giant, Ralph Lawson. Promising even more sizzle and spectacle than last year, A Christmas Celebration will feature all your favourite Christmas songs, as well as stunning dance and even an acrobatics-dance display by Alex Ishchenko and Michele La Trobe. Tickets for a special preview performance on Friday 18 December are R100 each. From 20 to 24 December, tickets range from R100 to R200 if pre-booked. Tickets are available from Computicket on www.computicket.co.za or from the Playhouse box office on (031) 369 9596/9540. Pre-booking secures cheaper seats. A discount of up to 20% is available on block bookings from Dawn on (031) 369 9407. Playhouse patrons receive discounted parking at The Royal Hotel Parking and at the Albany Grove Parkade. The Playhouse coffee shop offers a variety of light meals and drinks, while the Playhouse bar is open for every performance. CF
Andile KaMajola
Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016 / 9
T
We loved this!
E
A
M
PUBLISHER & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Lore Watterson; lore@desklink.co.za COPUBLISHER & PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Chris Watterson; chris@desklink.co.za DEPUTY EDITOR Tamaryn Greer; tammy@desklink.co.za FEATURES EDITOR Natalie Watermeyer; natalie@desklink.co.za
TOGETHER IN CONCERT FOR THE FIRST TIME!
& Making music together.
SALES AND MARKETING EXECUTIVES sales@desklink.co.za sales@creativefeel.co.za SPECIAL PROJECTS Noelene Strauss Kotzé; noelene@desklink.co.za MARKETING INTERN Oupa Sibeko; oupa@desklink.co.za DESIGN Mxolisi Gumbi; mxolisi@desklink.co.za FINANCIAL DIRECTOR Debbi Gregory; debbi@desklink.co.za RECEPTION Angelina Ramano DISPATCH Khumbulani Dube SUBSCRIPTION & CIRCULATION Debbi Gregory; debbi@desklink.co.za
PROGRAMME
On 28 and 29 October, the KZN Philharmonic joined forces with the Johannesburg Philharmonic to perform Mahler’s Fifth Symphony. The sister orchestras brought passion and energy to the Linder stage for an evening of truly worldclass entertainment and artistic excellence, ending with a standing ovation from an enthralled audience. What a night!
Creative Feel eagerly awaits the future collaborations this new partnership will herald.
10 / Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016
Published by DeskLink™ Media PO Box 3670, Randburg, 2125 Tel: 011 787 0252 Fax: 011 787 8204 www.creativefeel.co.za www.desklink.co.za PRINTING ColorPress (Pty) Ltd © Copyright DeskLink™ Media The opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the views of the publisher. CONTRIBUTORS: Nondumiso Msimanga; nondumiso.msimanga@yahoo.com Ismail Mahomed; ismail@nationalartsfestival.co.za Michelle Constant; michelle@basa.co.za Indra Wussow; indra@syltfoundation.com
12877
Support the things that really matter in arts development, at no cost to you. Thanks to our Arts Affinity members, the Nedbank Arts Affinity Programme has, to date, donated almost R15 million to support more than 800 arts, culture and heritage development projects countrywide. If you want to make a difference in the lives of talented young artists, open an Arts Affinity account and use it to create more opportunities for the arts. As you use your Arts Affinity current, savings, investment or credit card account, Nedbank will donate to the Arts & Culture Trust, at no cost to you. Visit any Nedbank branch, call us on 0860 555 111 or go to nedbankarts.co.za.
#ThingsThatReallyMatter
Nedbank Ltd Reg No 1951/000009/06. Authorised financial services and registered credit provider (NCRCP16).
Cover image:
34
FUNDING: BEFORE AND AFTER
Gregory Maqoma. Photograph by Marijke Willems
Individuals and registered arts organisations
involved in theatre or musical theatre, dance or
choreography, music or opera, visual arts, craft,
literature and multidiscipline projects were
encouraged to submit their applications for
project funding to the National Arts Council (NAC)
between November and December 2014.
36
ARTS EDUCATION: A PRIORITY – NO QUESTION
The NEPAD Agency in collaboration with South
Africa’s Department of Arts and Culture, hosted the
NEPAD Regional Conference on Arts Education in
Africa for the SADC Region.
38
A PLAY FOR THE FUTURE
ASSITEJ South Africa will host the 19th ASSITEJ
World Congress and Performing Arts Festival in
Cape Town from 17-27 May 2017. Yusrah Bardien
and Alison Green spoke to Creative Feel about the
event and more broadly, why theatre is important
for young people.
48
PROVOCATIVELY POTENT
Theatre facilitator and creator Jade Bowers has
been recognised as the Standard Bank Young Artist
Award winner for Theatre 2016.
52
OPENING DOORS
Creative Feel met with James Ngcobo, the passionate
and articulate artistic director of the Market Theatre.
cover story 22
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF EXTRAORDINARY DANCE
World-renowned dancer and choreographer
Gregory Maqoma has travelled from continent to
continent to sold-out shows and has garnered
a reputation of excellence for himself and his
Vuyani Dance Company (VDC). This, however,
is just one facet of his career as he is also a
successful arts administrator and businessman.
contents
arts and culture 28
TRIPLE-THREATS TAKE CENTRE STAGE AT ACT SCHOLARSHIPS
Seeking out triple-threat performers, the Arts &
Culture Trust (ACT), Nedbank and DALRO (Dramatic,
Artistic and Literary Rights Organisation) awarded
three scholarships to deserving young candidates at
the end of October.
32
MASSIVE BOOST FOR ACT PERFORMING ARTS SCHOLARSHIPS
Along with funding from the National Lottery
Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF), the Arts &
Culture Trust (ACT) will allocate an additional
14 performing arts scholarships in 2016.
12 / Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016
56
ORESTEIA
76
HEARTLAND
Oresteia was recently shown on the West End
Deep South have announced that they will release
following a sellout run at the Almeida, where it has
their second album, Heartland, this November. The
been universally hailed as an astonishing, bold and
world music duo, comprised of Dave Ledbetter and
exhilarating theatrical feat.
Ronan Skillen, collaborated with some of Europe’s
58
ENTANGLED HEAD
most sought-after world music musicians on this
lyrical and fluid album.
At the end of 2014, Angus Taylor’s solo show From
Explicit to Implicit, held at Johannesburg’s Everard
Read Gallery, attracted the attention of Rand
Merchant Bank (RMB) and the Bank offered to
partner with the opening event and sponsor
the catalogue.
62
A TIME OF LIGHTS
In creating a stamp sheet celebrating 2015
as the International Year of Light, multimedia
artist Marcus Neustetter brings an extended
series of works into a cohesive whole.
68
A CELEBRATION OF MENTORING
The Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative was
created to assist rising artists in achieving their full
potential by pairing them with great masters for a
year of creative collaboration.
lifestyle and entertainment 82 85 86
BOOK REVIEWS CD REVIEWS CINEMA NOUVEAU
contents 74 SA-UK SEASONS: CEMENTING PARTNERSHIPS
contributors 16
ARTLOOKS & ARTLINES
Artlooks & Artlines is a monthly column
by Ismail Mahomed, Artistic Director of the
National Arts Festival.
18
BUSINESS & ARTS
Business & Arts is a monthly column by
Michelle Constant, CEO of Business and Arts
South Africa (BASA).
20
LITERARY LANDSCAPES
Since the opening of the Wales Millennium Centre
in Cardiff in 2004, Cape Town Opera has been an
Literary Landscapes is a monthly column written
integral and strategic South African partner to
by Indra Wussow, a writer, translator and director of
this national Welsh performing arts centre.
the Sylt Foundation.
Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016 / 13
As a new year looms…
W
hile the stores and shopping malls fill up with Christmas cheer around us, Casta Diva Boutique Hotel offers a hidden village in the northern parts of Pretoria
where you and a few friends can break away from the consumer-driven holiday season – retreat to 67 Albatros Street, Ninapark, Akasia. With the five newest guest units, Casta Diva now boasts a total of 27 beautifully decorated, elegant guest rooms. These newer units are aptly named ‘Las Terrazzas’ and the setting and decoration create a sense of ‘Africa meets Mexico’. With full-wall windows and spacious bathrooms, these rooms offer a wonderful night’s rest, as all the rooms do at Casta Diva. Visit the Casta Diva listing on Tripadvisor.com to view some of the reviews and experiences of other guests who have found tranquillity at the hidden gem on the slopes of the Magaliesberg mountain. Their ranking is currently listed at number eleven of 324 hotels in Pretoria, but they are steadily making their way to number one as the listing changes almost daily. Apart from four star accommodation, this boutique hotel also offers the culinary excellence of the Charisma Restaurant where the food is good, the ambiance is elegant and the experience is always memorable. Book a table for a romantic dinner, a small family function or simply just a special meal. You can view more details as well as reviews of the restaurant on Zomato.co.za where Charisma Restaurant is listed. If you enjoy supporting local, up-and-coming artists, book tickets to one of the events hosted in the intimate Vissi d’Arte Theatre/Art Gallery on a Saturday evening. You can visit Casta Diva’s Vissi d’Arte Facebook page for updates on events. Or, if classical is up your alley, visit the Casta Diva’s Charisma Facebook page and book for one of the Sunday afternoon concerts. So, whether it be a break away from the Christmas madness or a rejuvenation at the beginning of the new year, just before work starts and life commences, why not find peace at an oasis in the city? Take time for yourself and enjoy the peaceful beauty of the best-kept secret in Gauteng – Casta Diva Boutique Hotel, the place to … Enjoy life. CF
14 / Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016
Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016 / 15
AFRICAN ARTS INSTITUTE AND NATIONAL ARTS COUNCIL COLLABORATE ON 2015/16 SOUTH AFRICAN HANDBOOK ON ARTS AND CULTURE
A
new edition of The South African Handbook on
international agencies engaged in the creative industries
Arts and Culture is now available, published by the
in SA; competitions and awards; professional bodies
African Arts Institute (AFAI), with the National
and key media outlets. It also contains an introductory
Arts Council of South Africa (NAC) as the primary
chapter on Africa for those keen to establish relationships
partner. An indispensable resource for contemporary arts and culture practitioners, the 2015/16 edition is edited by
across the continent.’ NAC CEO Rosemary Mangope commented, ‘The NAC is
Mike van Graan, in association with contributing editors and
proud to be the primary partner in the production of The
researchers Mari Stimie and Kim Gurney.
South African Handbook on Arts and Culture, a much-needed
The publication offers invaluable insights and contacts
resource for our industry. As an organisation we encourage
across a wide range of disciplines, including craft, dance,
collaboration and partnerships so that, collectively, we
design, fashion, film, heritage, literature, music, theatre
can help to realise the dreams of those active in the sector.
and visual art. Executive director of the AFAI and editor of
Not only does the Handbook provide a wealth of practical
The South African Handbook on Arts and Culture, Mike van
information that will help readers to act, network and
Graan said: ‘The Handbook is a practical response to the
collaborate, the listings celebrate South Africa’s arts and
need for useful information within the arts, culture and
culture sector by pointing to the richness and variety of our
heritage sectors.
local artistic practice and innovation.’
‘Comprising nearly 400 pages, it gives a comprehensive
The South African Handbook on Arts and Culture retails
overview of key contacts across the creative industries in
at R295 (inclusive of VAT, but excluding packaging and
SA, including: government departments responsible for
shipping costs) and can be ordered from info@afai.org.za.
arts and culture at both national and local levels; public
Orders of 10 – 99 copies are eligible for a discount of 10%,
sector funding agencies and private sector sponsors;
while orders of 100 or more will receive a 15% discount. CF
16 / Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016
#creativeintersections at ACT | UJ Arts & Culture Conference
T
he ACT | UJ Arts & Culture Conference is presented
plenary sessions, presentations and panel discussions
by the Arts & Culture Trust (ACT) and UJ Arts &
that will activate practical engagement with the content.
Culture, with support from the SAMRO Foundation
Hosting a diverse spectrum of emerging and established
and Creative Feel. The conference will take place
industry voices, the conference hopes to provide unique
on the 16th and 17th of March 2016, based once again at the
platforms for engagement. This creative conference will
University of Johannesburg (UJ), Kingsway Campus.
once again present a valuable chance for individuals
The two-day conference aims to provide a forum for
working at different levels and in different canons to
developing and inspiring the creative community by
connect and collaborate. Leveraging the successful
encouraging creative collaborations across disciplines.
connections and relationships fostered at the previous
Titled #creativeintersections, the focus of the conference
conferences, ACT hopes to build and create tangible
is to construct a new, creative road map where academic
opportunities and outcomes that celebrate the value of skill
disciplines can physically and figuratively cross boundaries;
swaps and shared knowledge.
highlighting ‘intersections’ where new mediums, theories and connections can be identified and established. #creativeintersections will be an interactive experience comprising of structured networking events, workshops,
Planning for this exciting programme is well underway, with further details soon to be announced. Please visit the conference website www.creativeconference.co.za to join the conversation. CF
Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016 / 17
Artlooks & Artlines Artlooks & Artlines is a monthly column written by Ismail Mahomed, Artistic Director of the National Arts Festival.
A
t the National Arts Festival in 2014, South
West End and on New York City’s Broadway. While in the
African actress Thembi Mtshali-Jones was
United States, she met Hugh Masekela and Miriam Makeba
presented with the Standard Bank Standing
and toured with them both throughout Europe and Africa.
Ovation Award for her illustrious contributions
Returning to South Africa, she performed to acclaim at the
to South African theatre. At the 2015 Arts & Culture Trust
Market Theatre in works like Janice Honeyman’s Black and
Awards, this phenomenal actress was honoured with the
White Follies. Later, she again toured internationally with
Lifetime Achievement Award for Theatre.
Malcolm Purkey’s Marabi.
In a career spanning over four decades, Thembi Mtshali-
More recently, she has been a crucial part of the
Jones has become one of South Africa’s most celebrated
success of Michael Lessac’s path-breaking work, Truth
theatrical personalities. Her performances have enchanted
in Translation – a drama that has also been performed
theatre-goers at home and beyond, demonstrating
around the world, including a run in the former extreme
South African theatrical excellence to global audiences.
conflict zone of Rwanda. Of her performance in Truth in
Beyond her unquestioned status as an award-winning
Translation, Time magazine said, ‘The raw gospel lament
performer on the live stage, her coauthored dramatic works
sung by Thembi Mtshali-Jones has extraordinary power,
have similarly garnered awards and audience acclaim
leaving the audience in pale shock as the interval lights
internationally. Along the way, she has created memorable
come up.’
characters for cinema and television as well.
Together with Gcina Mhlophe and Maralin van Reenen,
Thembi Mtshali-Jones first burst upon the stage in
she coauthored Have You Seen Zandile? and performed in it.
Welcome Msomi’s Umabatha. She then joined the musical,
Then, together with the late Barney Simon, coauthored and
Ipi Tombi, in the lead role of Mama Tembu, both on London’s
starred in Eden and Other Places and Women of Africa. More
Maureen Lahaud, Motshabi Tyelele, Thembi MtshaliJones (with ACT Lifetime Achievement Award for Theatre) and Lazarus Serobe. Photograph by John Hogg
18 / Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016
Mother to Mother featuring Thembi Mtshali-Jones at the 2012 National Arts Festival. Photograph by Jess Kriedemann
recently, she joined with Yael Farber to coauthor A Woman in Waiting, a one-woman tour de force commissioned by the Joseph Papp Theatre in New York City, based on Mtshali-Jones’ own life story. The work garnered accolades at the Edinburgh Festival, ran on the West End, and toured further in the United States, Tunisia, France, Canada, Azerbaijan and Bermuda. Of this work, the Cape Times said, ‘Mtshali is simply masterful’, while the Star cheered, ‘A Woman in Waiting is Thembi Mtshali’s painful yet joyous journey towards herself. She takes a whole nation with her.’ The UK’s Guardian added, ‘Theatre at its most powerful, the word catharsis was invented to describe such glorious work… The relish with which the story of her life is told is exhilarating, moving and above all, life affirming.’ Thembi Mtshali-Jones has received several Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards and an Mbokodo Award, and she has been given a Living Legend Award from her hometown and home province of Durban and KwaZulu-Natal. The governor of the American state of Kentucky has also conferred upon her the coveted title of an Honorary Kentucky Colonel for her contributions as an artist-inresidence at the University of Kentucky. Beyond the live stage, Thembi Mtshali-Jones’ television career has included dozens of starring roles, including her well-loved character, Thoko, in ’Sgudi ’Snaysi, and as Hazel, the shebeen queen, in Stokvel. The latter series was nominated for an international Emmy Award. Among many other performances, her cinematic appearances have included the female lead in the path-breaking film, Mapantsula (awarded Best New Film at the Cannes International Film Festival), In My Country, Cape of Good Hope, The Wooden Camera and Themba – A Boy Called Hope. Ever versatile, besides concert touring with musical legends such as Dizzy Gillespie, Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela and Abdullah Ibrahim, Thembi Mtshali-Jones has recorded four albums in her own name, as well as recordings as lead vocalist with Sipho Gumede’s band, Peace, and with the African Jazz Pioneers. Thembi Mtshali-Jones has often remarked that her favourite moment as a performer came when she sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to President Nelson Mandela on his 80th birthday, sung in isiZulu and broadcast live on CNN. Thembi Mtshali-Jones has given a lifetime of creative energy to South Africa’s cultural life. Her contributions continue to give South African theatre a rich vitality. She is an inspiration for generations to follow. All that now needs to happen is for this remarkable artist to be awarded the National Order of Ikhamanga by the President. CF
Mother to Mother featuring Thembi Mtshali-Jones at the 2012 National Arts Festival. Photograph by Terrence Mtola
Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016 / 19
Business & Arts Business & Arts is a monthly column by Michelle Constant, CEO of Business and Arts South Africa (BASA).
R
ecently the importance of scaling was brought up
the resource narrative. In 2014 alone, Cape Town Opera did
with regard to the arts sector. Is your organisation
more performances overseas than in South Africa – 85 to
or specific programme easily able to scale; what
the local 62. In the seven countries that they visited, 120
stops the scaling and what needs to be addressed
000 saw their diverse productions including Mandela Trilogy,
in the process. Ultimately, the question that should also be
and the foreign income earned for the organisation was
addressed is whether or not the programme or organisation
nearly ten times more than that earned locally. Managing
is required to scale in order to remain successful and
Director Michael Williams attests the success to the power
sustainable. The question arises – does ‘to grow’, actually
of teamwork and indeed a ‘fantastic team’. He also talks
mean ‘to scale’?
to the long-term vision of diverse partnerships, amongst
With this in mind, it is always an enormous honour to
them the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF),
engage with organisations that are doing excellent work in
‘because of them, we are what we are today’, and corporate
rethinking what are sometimes inappropriate frameworks,
Rand Merchant Bank (RMB). Most recently, the CTO received
with regard to this discussion. Over the last few weeks I’ve had
a massive individual bequest of R10 million, highlighting
the honour of spending some time with these organisations.
Williams’ suggestion that one ‘doesn’t go for the corporate
Cape Town Opera (CTO) is an anomaly in so many ways.
but rather the individual champion.’ Talking to Williams is
On the one hand it represents a genre of the arts that is seeded
a tonic; at times he is excessively chipper. But he has good
in Western culture – a culture that remains contested in South
reason to be, his strategy is one of local excellence and global
Africa. Conversely, it is an extremely successful company
reach, addressed by touring the successes of the company
that demonstrates organisational transformation (the SA
internationally – and given the current Rand exchange rate,
Rugby Board could learn from them), as well as renewed
it’s a mighty savvy strategy for a large organisation of this
ownership of the aforementioned contested terrain. It is the
nature. As a full-time opera company, the ability to generate
success of CTO that offers us insights into how one can shift
close on R16 million worth of employment in local and
20 / Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016
the company had to shut up shop and downscale. Already the Centre has extended its reach to a Schools Programme in the district, to a residency at the Centre, and it demonstrates a re-framing of skills transfer and access. As Sabbagha describes it, they have encountered a ‘different kind of difficult’ in the shift, but in doing so have discovered a re-energised team, organisation and future. Perhaps what also makes the move exciting is the fresh opportunity to engage with diverse businesses and assets in the region. It opens the door to new partnerships and new ideas of cultural tourism, shifting the conversation from what Iain Harris of the award-winning Cape Town Coffeebeans Routes describes as ‘from a silenced economy to a storytelling economy,’ that is one that is exclusive to one that is more inclusive. As a dancer performed on the back of a tractor, and then what appeared to be a herd of antelope (student dancers from the area with large branches on their heads) traipsed delicately across a green Forgotten Angle Theatre Collective rural performance. Photographs by Christo Doherty
field, it became quite clear that, yes, through the arts we are indeed able to give a new ‘voice’ to our current economy. CF
international work in 2014 alone, deserves applause. Moving from the Western Cape to Mpumalanga to the new home of the Forgotten Angle Theatre Collective (FATC), powered by the extraordinary PJ Sabbagha. Moving the dance company from Jozi, Gauteng to Emakhazeni in Mpumalanga to open the Rural Dance Centre is both crazy and thoughtful. Or, as journalist Adrienne Sichel said, ‘It’s another defining moment in South African cultural history; an insane act of faith by PJ, his family and the FATC Company.’ Sichel is right on both counts, and indeed the move is almost counter-intuitive. In order to define a new scalable future,
Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016 / 21
Literary Landscapes Literary Landscapes is a monthly column by Indra Wussow, a writer, translator and director of the Sylt Foundation.
Dorothea Rosa Herliany at Frankfurt Book Fair on 15 October 2015
D
arkness surrounds us in the Indonesian Pavilion
written literatures. Some of them, like the Javanese
when a small man enters the stage. Humbleness
literature, have traditions spanning a thousand years. The
surrounds him, a quietness that betrays his
interesting question is how such an unlikely nation can
presence on stage.
build a national literature. The slogan ‘Unity in Diversity’
Afrizal Malna is one of the most important Indonesian
poets and one of many guests invited to present Indonesia as the guest of honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair this year. Malna’s journey to poetry was an unlikely one and his
is part of the Pancasila, the official state doctrine, and feels like a continuous call for nation building. Indonesia gained independence in 1945 after many centuries of being colonised, mostly by the Dutch. To
struggle as a poet is also a struggle to find his roots, his
advance nation building a new language was introduced.
identity and – his mother tongue.
Bahasa Indonesia, the new language that was introduced
On the map, Indonesia looks like a huge, tropical swarm of fish that got lost between Asia and Australia. A country
shortly after independence, derived from Malay, the language of commerce in this area of the world for centuries.
that boasts 700 ethnic groups, five official religions and a
The Indonesians affectionately call their language
myriad of natural religions, even more colours, forms and
Bahasa, which means ‘the language’, and there are statues
scents, is an unlikely place to become one nation.
to honour the language and literature event emphasises the
Indonesia is a literary treasure trove. The many different cultures and languages have produced different literatures, some orally transmitted but also a dozen
22 / Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016
importance of Bahasa in the forming of a national literature. Poetry is the most popular form in modern Indonesian literature. Readings and performance often attract hundreds
of listeners. The secret of its success lies in its entertainment
also an act of sacrifice to serve their nation best in leaving
value, as pathos and music play a major role. Physicality
the past behind and with it, the words to express their
plays a major role in the performance of poetry.
inner self.
While oral forms are doing well, printed forms are
So Afrizal Malna never learnt his mother’s tongue and,
struggling. The literacy rate is higher than 90% but books
though growing up with Bahasa Indonesia, he has always
are too expensive for the majority of the population, which
been very conscious about the limitations and ambiguities
totals up to 250 million. Andre Hirata’s novel The Rainbow
of language. Malna has doubts in language, and he elevates
Troops has been the most successful book so far and sold no
working on and with language to make it his strongest weapon
more than five million copies.
to repeatedly question Indonesia’s long journey into modernism, which is accompanied by social and political rejections. His is an appellative poetry to be interpreted. A poetry that is splintered and unending at the same time, a poetry that looks directly at the fragmented present-day society of contemporary Indonesia. Afrizal Malna calls the Indonesian language a language without a native country. President Suharto’s New Order doctrine of the mid-1960s aimed to shape a united nation but also resulted in the destruction of land and the uprooting of those who could not find a place in it… According to Malna, the Indonesian language famously resists all forms of domestication. This makes him search for a Bahasa Indonesia that is able to reflect the neglected history of his native country with its dispossessed peoples. It is crucial to him to work out these losses and negations with its new common language that on the other hand is still a major construction site. Therefore his poems remain outraged statements against his country’s intolerable social and political conditions. They denounce the widespread lack of work and perspective, denounce the rampant corruption and the government’s ‘dead-body politics’. Environmental destruction and daily violence matter to Malna: ‘People are being raped.
‘Indonesians do not like to read,’ says Anies Baswedan, Minister of Culture and Primary & Secondary Education.
The land is being raped. The earth is being raped.’ Malna transformed his language into an extremely flexible
This is why the ministry launched an initiative to promote
body, one that puts up a fight against bureaucratisation and
reading in schools. Fifteen to 30 minutes of every school
despotism, against over-shaping and uniformity, against
day should be dedicated to books to instil the desire to read
dogmas and banning: ‘Young people know their bodies are
among pupils and students. Education is a very important
unnumbered ice blocks. They melt in order to hump. They melt
factor of this G20-country with more than 60% of its
in order to scavenge a job. They melt in order to buy shoes.
population being under 29 years old.
And they become ice blocks again. They become ice blocks in
Afrizal Malna is a child of the modern Indonesia and its
order to melt. They become ice blocks in order to enter the
new language, Bahasa, marked his childhood. He was born
house. They become ice blocks in order to go to school. They
in 1957 to parents who came from the island of Sumatra to
freeze and melt like the water shoved into the freezer’ (from:
the city of Jakarta because they, like so many Indonesians
The Active Activities of Ice Blocks).
of that time, believed in the new country and the promise of a better life. Arriving in the capital, they decided to leave behind
Afrizal Malna is one example of the literary diversity that tells us about the fierce fight for excavating the traditions of this unlikely island nation, tells us of the many victims the
their past and abandon their native language. From that
modern state has claimed. Indonesian literature offers us an
point on they only used Bahasa Indonesia – even in their
image of a faraway region, where extremes are clashing like
private space. An act of hope and an act of rebirth, but
nowhere else in the world. CF
Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016 / 23
Lulu Mlangeni and Julia Burnham of Vuyani Dance Company. Photograph by Marijke Willems
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS of Extraordinary Dance World-renowned dancer and choreographer Gregory Maqoma has travelled from continent to continent to sold-out shows and has garnered a reputation of excellence for himself and his Vuyani Dance Company (VDC). This, however, is just one facet of his career as he is also a successful arts administrator and businessman. Creative Feel spoke to Maqoma about the business behind dance.
24 / Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016
//
“When I go to funders I say, ‘give me this much in order for me to make this much so that I don’t come to you again with the same request year after year. Let us build a sustainable investment [together].’” \\
Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016 / 25 Gregory Maqoma. Photograph by Marijke Willems
G
regory Maqoma’s exceptional talent is augmented by noteworthy business savvy as the founder and director of Vuyani Dance Company (VDC). Passionate about dance and desiring to create a space where people of his generation could ‘come together and realise
their dreams and ambition through movement and choreography,’ Gregory Maqoma formed Vuyani Dance Theatre (VDT), now Vuyani Dance Company, in 1999. Funding for the company’s first production, Rhythm 123, was generously awarded by the Embassy of the Netherlands and with that, Vuyani Dance Theatre came into being. According to Maqoma, he did not start out with much business knowledge: VDT ‘was not even a formal dance company at the time.’ Rather, it operated from project to project, being formalised as a non-profit organisation (NPO) in 2002. ‘As a NPO, obviously there is no business model… and we didn’t create a business plan. We were passionate about giving back to the community, asking: “how do we expand dance into our communities? How do we start creating a legacy and nurture young talent?”’
//
“We were passionate about giving back to the community, asking: ‘how do we expand dance into our communities? How do we start creating a legacy and nurture young talent?’” \\ Around 2004, the company managed to establish a core of full-time employed performers, who all required salaries. Critical support was required and the company was awarded funding from the National Arts Council (NAC). At the same time, Maqoma began to realise that there were other, more innovative ways, of sustaining a dance company – for example, selling their productions and collaborating with international theatres and festivals, with whom he’d developed relationships over the years, to coproduce work. This business model proved successful until 2009 when the economic downturn caused international invitations and funding to dry up. The company reached a crisis point. Maqoma approached Business and Arts South Africa (BASA) CEO Michelle Constant for advice. Constant suggested that he begin with his board: replacing one board comprising primarily of friends with one made up of experts able to provide critical insight, strategy and advice. With the new board in place, the company began working on a Gregory Maqoma. Photograph by Marijke Willems
26 / Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016
business model and identified its strengths and weaknesses. While Vuyani Dance Theatre produced work of a soaring, international
standard, the brand was virtually unknown. Gregory Maqoma, however, as a former Standard Bank Young Artist and dancer and choreographer of global repute had himself become a hallmark of exceptional South African dance. The question then became: how to capitalise on his success, create a sustainable company able to flourish beyond Maqoma’s time and shine as ‘the best in the country, the best on the continent’? Moreover, the company began to think about how to ‘influence change, from the funder’s point of view, and also from our audience’s point of view,’ adds Maqoma. VDT increased their emphasis on quality in all aspects of their productions, ensuring that audiences came back for more. They also focused on accessing bigger spaces and festivals, including the likes of the Joburg Theatre, the Theatre de la Ville in Paris, the Lyon Biennale, and the New York City Centre, among others. The company set out to have a ‘reciprocal conversation’ with funders, allowing those backing them to genuinely understand their needs, while seeking in turn to understand the funder’s investment and their desired return on investment. ‘Instead of me just having to fill in forms,’ explains Maqoma, ‘we started to speak their language, the business language.’ ‘When I go to funders I say, “give me this much in order for me to make this much so that I don’t come to you again with the same request year after year. Let us build a sustainable investment [together].” And so, when they look at the business model, they are more likely to say, “we like this, because it shows growth, development and that you are thinking beyond just the funding cycle.”’ During the critical period of 2009, the Arts & Culture Trust (ACT) provided substantial support of VDT’s tenth anniversary programme, allowing the company to survive. In addition, the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF) provided a three-year funding grant, as apposed to the regular year-long grant. This proved to be crucial in allowing the company to increase its sustainability and Maqoma remains a vocal advocate for the pressing need for longer-term funding. ‘When we got the three-year funding from the Lottery, we said, “let’s use this three-year funding in order for us to focus on all these key elements in the sustainability of the company – getting its image out there, creating a marketing model and developing audiences…” That started in 2010 and we’re here now, without a big funder behind us, because we started working on those critical elements… I could see the change. We are a perfect example of what long-term funding is able to do. Freeing you up to focus, to think about the business model, the system. A year-to-year thing is unsustainable in itself. Every year you go back because you haven’t had time to develop and test the ideas and see if things will work. ‘We’re also aware that we will never be fully self-sustainable… But what is important for funders to know is that, as a company,
Gregory Maqoma performing in Beautiful Me. Photograph by Val Adams
Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016 / 27
Gregory Maqoma performing in Beautiful Me. Photograph by Val Adams
we are thinking about ways in which their investment can
on accountability. ‘Go to the shows, have those kinds of
really go a long way, so that even when they are not there,
conversations – are audiences attending and if not, why?
we can still continue to function and the results of the
Those are critical conversations that we should be having
investment can have a greater impact than what the money
with funders because there might be something else within
was intended for… For instance, Full Moon, which was a big
the whole cycle that we might be able to solve together. The
production for us: how do we take elements of it and start
funding model might be a problem in itself. It happens a lot.
selling those elements to corporates?’
Lots of communication should take place. We should all have
Maqoma further emphasises the vital need for close
a business model in terms of what the implication of funding
cooperation with financiers whose feedback can help the
is – the funders need to understand it and, as the receiver,
company to deliver on (and exceed) expectations and focus
we need to understand it.’
28 / Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016
Vuyani Dance Company certainly is everywhere at
have access to our spaces. Our target is the black middle-class,
present, performing at every event, pitching to production
because that is our future and to tap into that – in order for
companies and, as of late, directing events themselves.
them to be conscientised about the value that the arts bring
‘We keep expanding all the time and we think about other
within a community – space is critical.’
ways we can fundraise that are not the usual,’ reveals
VDC’s community outreach programme offers children the
Maqoma. ‘For instance, we have Greg and Friends on 3 and 4
opportunity to pursue dance – be it as a hobby or a possible
December, and we’re using that as a big fundraiser towards
career – while also encouraging future audiences. This also
building our new company home in Soweto.’
ensures the dance company’s own sustainability down the line.
The company snaps up opportunities and has made a
The company has also recently started a relationship with
conscious effort to collaborate with household names from
the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, aiming to address a
all sectors of the arts – from Hugh Maekela to David Tlale
critical gap between the ages of 18 and 24, with many youths
and Black Coffee. ‘It’s about diversification of audiences,’
having dropped out of school. ‘It’s critical for us to give them
explains Maqoma. ‘For example, the work that we did with
opportunities to develop skills,’ considers Maqoma. ‘Not to
Erik Truffaz took us to jazz festivals in France, with 7 000
focus on maths and science as the only option because, for
people watching us performing after George Benson at
some people, those are subjects that are intimidating – they
02:00 in the morning.’
struggle and drop out.’
Nurturing relationships – with funders, collaborators,
Vuyani Dance Company has also been taking on university
theatre and festival directors, audiences, the media, you
dance graduates, beginning a kind of apprenticeship
name it – plays a key part in Vuyani Dance’s success, as does
programme in 2014. The company selected 15 apprentices to
Maqoma’s ability to co-opt everyone that he meets as an
take part in their production of Full Moon, which enabled the
ally. ‘I speak quite openly about my dreams and aspirations
students to fully grasp the elements that they had been taught
for the company, where we are and where we’re going,
at university. ‘Now, about 80% of those are working all over in
because when people know what you’re thinking, what your
other productions,’ declares Maqoma. ‘And some we kept!’
vision is, they become your feelers out there,’ he says. ‘And
With an eye towards the future, the company has also
when I don’t know something, I’m not shy to go and ask for
sought to identify leadership within the organisation. Luyanda
assistance and advice.’
Sidiya was selected as artistic director of the company as
With their first five-year plan drawing to a close, Vuyani
part of their growth and succession plan. Sidiya, mentored
Dance has excelled in some aspects and less so in others.
by Maqoma, is in turn mentoring Lulu Mlangeni as another
They have succeeded in diversifying their income streams,
future leader. Maqoma himself remains an avid student of
bringing in revenue from open classes, international performances and corporate events. On the other hand, the brands visibility still needs work. Above all, they have not only survived, but flourished, and are now looking towards 2020, with a new ‘vision’ in place. The company is set to break ground on a state of the art dance facility in Soweto with land provided by the City of Joburg. As most of the company’s outreach programmes are run in Soweto, and many of the dancers live there, the move from
//
“I speak quite openly about my dreams and aspirations for the company, where we are and where we’re going, because when people know what you’re thinking, what your vision is, they become your feelers out there” \\
Newtown makes considerable sense. Moreover, such space is necessary for producing high-quality, large-scale productions, as well as for establishing a school of dance recognised for its
all things business and, in 2013, took a year-long course in
potential to produce world-class dancers.
social entrepreneurship, presented by the Gordon Institute
At Maqoma’s instigation, the interior of the building will
of Business Science (GIBS), with a scholarship provided by
be visible from all sides so that ‘people can stand there in the
Rand Merchant Bank (RMB). ‘Vuyani thanks RMB due to their
street and watch dancers practising or doing classes. There will
continued support via the Starlight Classics,’ adds Maqoma.
always be a sense of activity within the building. And for me, that means it speaks directly to the public.’ ‘If we want to tap into the community, we need to be centred around the community itself, in order for them to
Vuyani Dance Company has come a very long way from its origins, when it survived seemingly on passion, a wing and a prayer. But the love of dance and the desire to leave a lasting legacy, remains at its heart. CF
Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016 / 29
Triple-Threats Take Centre Stage at ACT Scholarships Seeking out triple-threat performers: those who are skilled actors, dancers and singers, the Arts & Culture Trust (ACT), Nedbank and DALRO (Dramatic, Artistic and Literary Rights Organisation) awarded three scholarships to deserving young candidates at the end of October.
2015 ACT | DALRO | Nedbank Performing Arts Scholarships Award Winners at the Market Theatre – Carla Smith, Caleb Heynes and Andiswa Mbolekwa. Photographs by Debbie Yazbek.
30 / Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016
2015 ACT | DALRO | Nedbank Scholarships finalists left to right (back) Emelda Mothelesi, Andiswa Mbolekwa, Masego Moloto, (front) Carla Smith, Jacques Mouton, Caleb Heynes
H
ard work is rewarded: this is the light that ACT
Students know, from the tender ages of their late
shines in the eager eyes of young people who
teens, that hard work does not necessarily equal success
want to pursue their dream of a career in the
when one cannot afford to put their hard work to the test
performing arts.
at a university. School-leavers today are faced with great
For the first time, in 2015, the Arts & Culture Trust (ACT)
responsibility and sobering realities but when the call to be a
cast their net wider by holding auditions in every province of
performer has sounded through a young person’s bones it is
South Africa in the search for performance hopefuls who could
crushing when that person feels forced to tell themselves to
rise up to the challenge of being a triple-threat performer
stop dreaming. This is where the works of ACT, Nedbank and
and stand a chance to win one of the revered ACT | Nedbank
DALRO (Dramatic, Artistic and Literary Rights Organisation)
| DALRO Scholarship Awards. The awards add up to R315 000
become critical in maintaining the positive pulse of the
for the three winners but the reward to both the awardees and
nation’s heartbeat. They bring hope.
their parents is incalculable. More so, the opportunity that this
Raymond ‘Mond’ Motadi, who hosted the showcase at
award provides to would-be-performers across the country is
the Market Theatre, opened the show with a heartfelt note
the gift of dreaming, and this is inestimably precious.
on the importance of the scholarships to a young dreamer.
Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016 / 31
Carla Smith, 1st place winner, performing Laughing Wild at the 2015 ACT | DALRO | Nedbank Performing Arts Scholarships Awards at the Market Theatre. Photographs by Debbie Yazbek
He won the position of Master of Ceremonies through a
danced and acted their hearts out on the John Kani stage.
competition that runs concurrently with the showcase
The evening began with a group song whose harmonies sent
preparations – offering yet another ‘break’ to a talented
goosebumps running up the arms of every audience member.
student. In 2015, ACT showed that they have a deep
The nerves of the family members in the room were palpable
understanding of the needs addressed by the award and
and so was the sheer hunger of the performers. Carla Smith
provided even more qualitative development opportunities
set herself apart from the first note of ‘Seasons of Love’. She
through the showcase presentation. Previous winners
shone in the lights and she moved as though she were alone
were given the chance to gain professional experience
onstage in front of only her parents, doing what she’s been
by choreographing pieces and mentoring the finalists;
doing since she was born: performing!
providing the previous winners with an audience and further, media attention. The weight of the pressure was on the finalists. The six, who were selected from 200 candidates nationally, sang and
32 / Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016
When she was announced as the winner of the R150 000 prize it was no surprise. Her monologue emanated a mad, yet quiet, humour and her song radiated pure joy throughout the auditorium. She had audience
Caleb Heynes showcasing his talent in Ugly NooNoo. Heynes is the 2nd place winner of the 2015 ACT | DALRO | Nedbank Performing Arts Scholarships Awards
Andiswa Mbolekwa, 3rd place winner of 2015 ACT | DALRO | Nedbank Performing Arts Scholarships Awards, singing I Never Met a Wolf Who Didn’t Know How to Howl
members in a kind of call-and-response-thrill as she sang
too lit up on the stage. Heynes’ family had never seen
her plea for them not to tell her ‘mama’ where they had
him perform before this auspicious night. While the fun-
seen her. And whilst the dance technique of all finalists
loving head boy, who had the audience in stitches during
did leave much to be desired, hers was a dance of such raw
his rendition of The Ugly Noo Noo, took funny-faced selfies
emotion that she soared. In her ecstatic state, after being
with his trophy his family was almost uniformly holding
announced as the winner, she said that she was relieved
their hands to their chests. Hailing from what his family
for her parents because this would take such a load off
calls ‘very very humble and difficult beginnings,’ they
their shoulders, financially. She also said that they had
swelled with pride because all they asked for was for him ‘to
told her it doesn’t matter what the outcome is ‘”you must
win, obviously, and he did.’ Mbolekwa’s family was simply
just enjoy yourself,” they said.’ And this enjoyment of her
stunned. And while the participants all received something,
performance was her winning formula.
it was obvious just how vital this award is for the dreamers
The runner-up, Caleb Heynes, as well as the third prize winner Andiswa Mbolekwa, shared this key aspect; they
to afford to keep dreaming when the other finalists welled up at the end of the night. CF
Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016 / 33
Massive boost for ACT Performing Arts Scholarships In his thank you address at the 2015 Scholarships finals on Monday, 12 October 2015, ACT CEO Pieter Jacobs announced that in 2016 the careers of more than 14 young performing artists would be fast-tracked through a massive fund injection from the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF).
Carla Smit. Photograph by Debbie Yasbek
34 / Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016
J
acobs shared his thoughts with the audience saying that, ‘art is the manifestation of our social fibre’ and that it is ‘integral to the human identity’, and just on that basis it is vital to
support the arts. He further thanked the NLDTF for their hand in giving others what he believes is the greatest gift of all, ‘the gift of education’. Jacobs also stressed that opportunities granted to the youngsters will help bolster the quality of output in the arts sector in the long run. This will be the largest number of scholarships the organisation has allocated annually since the programme’s inception in 2009. ACT, together with the Dramatic, Artistic and Literary Rights Organisation (DALRO) and Nedbank Arts Affinity, has invested more than R1.5 million in young performing artists’ careers over the last seven years.
Caleb Heynes. Photograph by Debbie Yasbek
An exciting detail that has been added to the existing format is that the 2016 programme will see ACT cater for performing arts students in their first and second year of undergraduate studies, in addition to Grade 12 learners who are interested in pursuing a career in the performing arts in South Africa. A range of Dramatic Arts, Singing, Acting, Dance and Musical Theatre Scholarships between R30 000 and R60 000 will be allocated to reach a combined value of R750 000. National auditions will be hosted from June to August 2016 and participants will be given a six-month period Andiswa Mbolekwa. Photograph by Debbie Yasbek
to register for the programme as of December 2015, with registrations set to close on 31 May 2016. CF
Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016 / 35
Funding: Before and After Individuals and registered arts organisations involved in theatre or musical theatre, dance or choreography, music or opera, visual arts, craft, literature and multidiscipline projects were encouraged to submit their applications for project funding to the National Arts Council (NAC) between November and December 2014.
SLED St Vincents School teaching practice
A
Umcebo palm-nut vulture Sculpture
t the same time, post-graduate students and
South Africa’s creative industries. Key to this transformation
registered education and training institutions
is not only supporting SA’s existing centres of arts
that are involved in studies or provide tuition
excellence, but also identifying and fostering emerging
in the fields of theatre, dance, crafts, literature,
talent nationwide – those organisations and individuals
music and visual arts were also asked to submit applications
that will be our future standard-bearers for the arts, both
for bursary funding. That invitation extended to students
nationally and internationally.
applying for Bachelor of Technology degrees in the arts.
‘In our on-going efforts to ensure the arts are as
Applications invited were for individual post-graduate
inclusive as possible, we are particularly keen to encourage
studies and block institution bursaries for undergraduate
funding applications from arts organisations and individuals
students who will be studying in South Africa during 2016.
that support the involvement of women, youth and those
Projects should be of national significance, focusing on
living with disabilities. We also welcome applications from
the creation of new works, capacity development, and arts
students who are not only interested in studying abroad, but
promotions – and on overall arts development. Those that
also committed to returning to SA to share the knowledge
have a strong community base and have been conceived
and experience they have gained with their peers.’
in collaboration with others working in similar fields were also encouraged to apply. Says NAC CEO Rosemary Mangope: ‘At the National Arts Council we are committed to changing the landscape of
36 / Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016
Artists and students interested in applying for similar funding can find application forms online at http://nac.org.za/funding/calls-and-results/ or from the National Arts Council office (Tel: 011 838 1383).
Recent NAC-funded success stories include Ifundiso Trading, whose Hlengiwe Dube – a jewellery designer, crafter and educator – served in early 2015 as Visiting Scholar at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and Visiting Artist at the School of the Arts, Virginia Commonwealth University. She has also been able to exhibit her work in Santa Fe, New Mexico and Houston, Texas. Elsewhere, the Bulwer Park Community Public Sculpture Project is building a large sculpture – from all-recycled materials – for Bulwer Park in Glenwood, for a planned installation in mid-December 2015. It’s a vulturine fish eagle, a.k.a. palm-nut vulture, wings spread, soaring over seven metres high among the tree tops in this beautiful park which, following a major makeover by eThekwini city, is a popular outdoor recreation space for locals. Recycling and upcycling is a sustainable alternative to using traditional sculpture materials. Leading the charge is Umcebo Design, one of the NAC’s beneficiaries. Robin Opperman, Ujala Sewpersad and a group of local crafters, working from their studio over the road from Bulwer Park, have constructed the eagle sculpture. Sign Language Education and Development (SLED), a local organisation eagerly supported by the NAC, is turning the tide in granting access to South Africa’s mainstream arts scene for deaf people. They are achieving this by creating a rich collection of works in South African Sign Language (SASL), to make sure that the history and heritage of South Africa is accessible to the deaf community, in a way that allows it to be transferred from generation to generation. SLED has been awarded funding to develop a wide range of signed SASL literature for Deaf learners, including educational materials in signed poetry, children’s stories in SASL and in print, historical and contemporary biographies, descriptive narratives and SASL non-fiction. The process will involve research to identify Deaf poets, artists and narrators before creating these unique Deaf community resources. Another project going from strength to strength is Lefika La Phodiso (‘The Rock of Holding’), Africa’s first psychoanalytically informed community art counselling training centre. The centre facilitates 16 arts counselling groups in Gauteng and Limpopo, collectively reaching almost 750 beneficiaries, receiving over 800 hours of intensive art counselling. Their mission is to build capacity for empathy by training groups of community art counsellors dedicated to psychosocial transformation through the creative arts and their vision is to provide safe spaces in which creativity and containment nourish emotional development and build healthy relationships. CF
SLED LTSM development Term 1-2 artist at work
Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016 / 37
Arts Education: A Priority
– No Question The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Agency in collaboration with South Africa’s Department of Arts and Culture (DAC), hosted the NEPAD Regional Conference on Arts Education in Africa for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Region.
Magnet Ekhaya, Kiddies College
T
Eastern Cape Philharmonic Orchestra Music Investment Project
he three-day Conference, under the theme
Competitiveness Report 2014-2015, which controversially
‘Advocacy for Arts Education in Africa’, took place
ranked the quality of South Africa’s mathematics and
from March 11 to 13, 2015 in Johannesburg, South
science education last out of 148 countries, there has been
Africa. The aim of the conference was to develop
much debate about the need to improve performances in
an advocacy and policy framework for Africa with specific attention to the SADC region in order to strengthen and
these important subjects. While the Basic Education Department has correctly
harmonise arts education and training policies, as a strategic
taken issue with the WEF report – it was not an accurate
intervention and contribution in regional integration, social
reflection on the state of education in South Africa, merely a
cohesion and sustainable development in the continent.
reflection of the opinion of ‘business leaders’ – the concern
‘Arts education, as a transformative strategy in Africa,
about mathematics and science nevertheless remains valid.
seeks to address the imperatives of peace and stability, human rights, social justice, gender equality, diversity, creative and
It is here that the arts could play a vital role. Art, to paraphrase the Polish sculptor Magdalena
innovative skills and cultural identity. That is why it has to be
Abakanowicz, may not solve problems, but it will make us
given greater prominence within African education systems,’
aware of them. An arts education, on the other hand, will
said Professor Mzobz Mboya from the NEPAD Agency.
solve problems. An arts education is fundamentally linked
So-called conventional wisdom suggests that the
to almost everything that we want for our children and
arts are a luxury in an education environment where
expect from our schools: academic achievement, social
resources are stretched and budgets slashed. Since the
and emotional development, civic engagement, equitable
publication last year of the World Economic Forum’s Global
opportunities. The whole nine yards.
38 / Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016
identified as such at UNESCO’s first-ever World Conference on Arts Education in Lisbon in March 2006. It would be naïve, however, to ignore our own history and its effect on the various and diverse cultures of our country. The South African landscape is one that still bears the ravages of apartheid. The inequalities thrown up by our divided past remain with us. Family structures, once dissipated by migrant labour and rapid urbanisation, went on to suffer the scourge of HIV/AIDS, which gave rise to childheaded households. Artistic practices within the context of a family environment became ever more difficult. So there are challenges. But an arts education would provide for a more fruitful and dynamic foundation with which to face these challenges. It is critical that learning
Magnet Theatre Educational Trust
Involvement in the arts – be it music, dance, drama, fine
environments develop emotional as well as cognitive skills.
art – is directly linked to gains in not only mathematics
Often, too much emphasis is placed on the latter and this
and science, but reading, cognitive ability, critical thinking
comes at the expense of the development of emotional
and verbal skills. It improves motivation, concentration,
processing, which is an integral part in decision-making and,
confidence and team building. The innate pleasures and
more importantly, a conduit for sound moral behaviour.
stimulation of the arts do more than provide enjoyment
For too long now the arts have been relegated to some
to an individual: they lay the foundation to build social
Cinderella status in our schools, and it will take years and
cohesion and strengthen communities.
considerable investment and effort to turn things around. But
The National Arts Council (NAC) takes the position
the way ahead seems clear. At that 2006 UNESCO conference
that arts education is not merely important for
in Portugal an arts education ‘road map’ was drawn up
appreciation alone, but must be seen as a means to
to emphasise the three primary aims of arts education:
enhance learning in other subjects. This aspect cannot be
to develop human capabilities, to improve the quality of
over-emphasised.
schooling, and to promote the expression of cultural diversity.
Arts education is critical if we are to improve the overall standard of education. Such an education is perceived as a universal human
In a nutshell, it is simply this: there are three purposes to education – one, we’re preparing our children for employment; two, we’re preparing them for citizenship; and
right for all learners, including those who are unfortunately
three, we’re preparing them to be human beings who can
excluded from mainstream education – a right enshrined
enjoy deeper forms of beauty.
in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and further
The third is just as important as the other two. CF
Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016 / 39
A Play for the Future The Lost Couple, Daniel Buckland performs at the Bodibe Childrens Festival 2014. Photograph by Yusrah Bardien
ASSITEJ South Africa will host the 19th ASSITEJ World Congress and Performing Arts Festival in Cape Town from 17-27 May 2017. Yusrah Bardien and Alison Green spoke to Creative Feel about the event and more broadly, why theatre is important for young people.
T
he International Association of Theatre for
Yusrah Bardien, Communications and Marketing Manager
Children and Young People (more commonly
of ASSITEJ SA, describes the Congress as a ‘massive Olympics
known as ASSITEJ), which is funded by the National
of children’s theatre’. This eleven-day feast of theatre from
Arts Council (NAC), is dedicated to the promotion
across the globe will have days dedicated to each of the
and development of theatre for young audiences. Every three
association’s many networks, which include the International
years, the association holds a World Congress. The next one,
Theatre for Youth Research Network (ITYARN), the Small Size
in partnership with the NAC, will take place in Cape Town
network, dedicated to the production of theatre for babies to
during May 2017, the first ever to happen in Africa in the 50-
four-year-olds, the Inclusivity Network, which creates work
year history of the association. This is an achievement largely
catering for a full spectrum of disabilities, and Write Local
due to the energy of Yvette Hardie, now in her second term as
Play Global, which brings together playwrights for young
the first African president of the global ASSITEJ.
audiences, among others.
40 / Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016
While part of the Congress is geared towards association
‘People ask why theatre is important when there is so
members, the event will also bring scores of theatre
much need for houses, hospitals, food... But nothing in
productions for youth to the country. Thus locals will be able
any of those things addresses the poverty of hope. And
to experience some 50 shows presented by ASSITEJ’s many
that is what theatre addresses – the poverty of the soul,
worldwide members, with a strong focus on productions
the need for inspiration and hope. Live performance,
from African countries. The Congress will take place in Cape
that immediate experience of a human exchange –
Town, but ASSITEJ SA is hoping to extend happenings to
that’s where it happens, and after the performance the
Durban and Johannesburg.
experience lingers on. Theatre can offer the ability to
Bringing the event to Africa, and increasing the work
be transformed in some way... A lot of charity addresses
of ASSITEJ locally and across the continent is important,
the symptoms of poverty, whereas theatre can address
says Bardien, who notes that a huge percentage of Africa’s
a cause. If we address this aspect, then someone may be
population are children. ‘The current capacity of performing
inspired to use what they have and empower themselves,
arts in South Africa won’t meet the need for theatre for
whereas you can’t help someone who doesn’t want to be
children. Currently, at the National Arts Festival there are
helped, because they’re depressed.’
about 15 – 20 theatre pieces for families, out of about 500.
Alison Green, Gauteng Coordinator for ASSITEJ SA’s
That’s a small percentage,’ she says, adding that some of
Kickstarter Creative Arts Project, echoes the ability of
the pieces presenting themselves as adult theatre are in fact
theatre to affect transformation, also pointing out its role in
for families, ‘but there’s a stigma against making work for
developing important aspects of personality and community.
children in South Africa, when actually it’s so important.
‘If you are observing a piece of theatre, you immediately
That’s arguably where the forefront of theatre is... but some
have empathy for the characters in the show,’ she says. ‘You
artists are still reluctant to do it.’
can understand other situations, which you yourself are not
ASSITEJ International gathering of participants at Augenblick Mal, May 2015, Germany
Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016 / 41
necessarily part of. I think that allows for growth and change and understanding, as well as empathy, and compassion within a community.’ ‘The arts also allows for a fuller scope, or more holistic engagement with the world,’ she adds. ‘There are different ways of thinking about things, different ways of appreciating, ways of making different decisions – which I think is part and parcel of the experience of seeing theatre, or going to a gallery and observing art.’ Introducing children to quality theatre productions is also an essential aspect of audience development, a critical part of sustaining the industry going forward. It is the people who went to the theatre in their youth who attend the theatre as adults: ‘It becomes an experience that they want to share with their children and families,’ says Green. Vrygrond Family Festival 2014
Annabel Morgan and Nadia Woodward in Fishy Flippers
ASSITEJ SA at the Catalina Theatre in Durban
Partly through its ability to convey a firsthand, ‘lived’
‘Access to the creative arts is not a privilege. Everyone
experience to its audience (in a way that film and television
deserves the opportunity to be captivated, have their
arguably do not), theatre can serve as a richly illuminating
imaginations unleashed and to free their thinking through
aspect of education. This was demonstrated recently
the power of the arts.’
when Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) called on ASSITEJ SA to
Hence one of ASSITEJ’s priorities has been to convince
initiate a series of workshops accompanying the production
theatres that productions aimed at young audiences can
of War Horse in South Africa. Working with facilitators from
benefit from elements of education. They advocate for the
the UK, ASSITEJ SA designed a series of workshops aligned
use of learning materials to accompany performances, as
with the national curriculum, connecting the production to
well as workshops, Q&A sessions, and discussions with the
themes from English, history, life skills and the arts. When
performers and director. These tools can extend the impact
the pupils finally came to the show, ‘you could almost feel
of the performance.
the education landing,’ recalls Green. ‘The impact was
Performances aimed at very young children (particularly
just overwhelming – the letters, and the artwork, and the
four-year-olds and younger) bring an important benefit:
responses we had from the teachers and the learners was
they strengthen the attachment between a child and
incredible.’ Of the value of ASSITEJ and their work on War
accompanying parent or caregiver. ‘If very young children
Horse, Head of the RMB Fund, Yvette Nowell, has said,
are exposed to something happening in front of them, when
42 / Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016
they react, they will laugh or giggle, or scream, and then look to see the reaction of the caregiver,’ says Green. ‘There has been quite a lot of research done about that bond, and what happens during the experience of watching a live show. That has been very important in the development of creating children’s work: how do you provide the opportunity for those bonding experiences?’ According to Bardien, productions targeted at this age group – i.e. ‘theatre for babies’ – are relatively new to South Africa. In Europe, the idea has been around for some 30 years, spearheaded by practitioners such as Robert Frobetti. ASSITEJ SA has been instrumental in its local development, with new work being created by, among others, Magnet Theatre, Nicola Elliot, Kyla Davis, and Joanna Evans, whose production Patchwork has received rave reviews.
Theatre for babies, Patchwork. Photograph by Merryn Carver
The Magnet Theatre’s Every Year, Every Day, I Am
The Lost Couple by Daniel Buckland. Roberto Pombo and Kyla Davis perform in the village of Bodibe, South Africa
Jori Snell with children from Vrygrond
thirteen. That’s a steady growth, and a number of these
Walking, directed by Mark Fleishman, is another example
shows are created by practitioners who have come through
of a hit production aimed at teenagers. ‘That show has
ASSITEJ’s programmes, like Richard Antrobus, Jayne
not stopped touring,’ says Bardien. ‘It’s been to virtually
Batzofin, Herbert Mokoena, Jenine Collocott, Elliot Moleba,
every continent. It’s one of the Magnet Theatre’s most
Jon Keevy, Lereko Mfono...’
successful shows. Through touring the play to ASSITEJ
Securing the bid to host the ‘Cradle of Creativity’ as
festivals, they encountered and were inspired by theatre
19th ASSITEJ World Congress in Cape Town will be called,
for the early years, so they are now teaching a group of
is therefore a big step. ASSITEJ SA is already at work
young artists to make work for babies, with input from
implementing a series of projects aimed at developing work
leaders in the field globally.’
leading up to Congress in 2017, with productions spanning
ASSITEJ continues to advocate for the importance
a number of performing arts. Amongst other things, the
of theatre (and the arts in general) for children, and
Congress should highlight the power and range of such
furthering its presence in South Africa. ‘The movement is
productions, and bring about greater and deeper connections
growing,’ says Bardien. ‘When we first started our family
and collaborations between local and international
festival at the National Arts Festival in 2012, we had eight
practitioners, thereby ensuring a vibrant role for theatre in
shows; then we had nine, then ten, and this year (in 2015)
the lives of local children in future. CF
Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016 / 43
The questions may not even exist yet, but we’re preparing our kids to answer them. With a solid grounding in creative thinking in Art, Dance, Drama and Music, our graduates will go on to become not only the country’s leading visual and performing artists, but will also find creative solutions to critical issues like energy, the environment, urban planning, food and water security and civil society. Creativity breeds radical solutions through critical thinking and at the NSA, we’re committed to advancing the lives of our children and transforming the way society answers the tough questions. To find out more, visit www.artschool.co.za, contact us on 011 339 6539 or send an email to admin@artschool.co.za or 44 / Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016 pro@artschool.co.za
Arts are steaming ahead
Renaissance scholars knew what today’s educationalists are just cottoning on to. Arguably the greatest artist of all time, ‘Renaissance Man’ Leonardo da Vinci, also made countless scientific discoveries in medical science, botany, civil engineering, architecture, astronomy, ichnology, optics and hydrodynamics, and conceptualised inventions from helicopters, parachutes and armoured tanks to concentrated solar power, an adding machine and even the humble bobbin that makes so much manufacture and production possible. Da Vinci epitomised balanced left/right brain thinking, combining extraordinary levels of creativity with profound logic and analytical thinking, wrapped up in an insatiable curiosity and a feverishly creative imagination. He was educated in the studio of the renowned Florentine painter Andrea del Verrocchio. An arts education. Educationalists have, for decades, been obsessed with punting the more left brain studies of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM), while relegating the arts to the rubbish bin. Well, move over STEM because STEAM’s the new hot kid on the block. (A for Arts, of course.) Finally, the Arts are being recognised not just as one of the critical subjects, but arguably as the most critical. For leading corporates and organisations in all sectors worldwide, people with an arts education are increasingly prized recruits. Because it’s acknowledged that it’s the creatives who will provide the new ways of thinking, problem-solving and innovation necessary to meet the challenges of our future world. Take a bow, right brain. No one knows this better than the National School of the Arts, the continent’s leading arts school and incubator of the country’s creative leaders and luminaries. Yes, almost everyone who’s anyone in the country’s performing and visual arts studied at the NSA – Oscar-winner Charlize Theron, Robyn Sarah Scott (Best Actress at the 2013 Edinburgh Festival), Karl Beukes, Jeannie D, Lorna Maseko, “21 Icons” Kitty Phetla, Bianca le Grange, Dada Masilo, Angela Malan;
Laura Pauna, Dan Patlansky, Samson Diamond, Karen Zoid, Snotkop, Vincent Bones, Kai Losgott – to mention a few. The creative industries also burst with NSA Alumni – Professor Freschi, head of UJ’s Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture (FADA), New York fashion designer Marc Bouwer, local designer Thula Sindi, an Emmy-nominated costume designer, the curator of the 2014 World Design Capital, the lead animator of Harry Potter and several Hollywood blockbuster movies, several multi award-winning movie directors and ad agency creative directors… the list goes on. But NSA Alumni also forge brilliant careers way outside the arts – bringing their curiosity, creativity and discipline of their arts education to fields as diverse as medical science, law, the environment, energy, civil society, astrophysics and beyond. Take Rhian Touyz, Director of Glasgow University’s Faculty of Cardiovascular & Medical Sciences Research and Chairperson of the British Cardiovascular & Medical Sciences Research Foundation. Then there’s the extraordinary young NSA Alumnus, Linda Olangunju, who – with an LLB and LLM in Oil & Gas – is Special Adviser to the Minister of Energy, is ranked ‘One of the 50 Most Important People in Energy in Africa’, and has received the rare title granted by the World Economic Forum of ‘Global Shaper’. Unlike other schools, NSA’s corridors ring out with music and song, the floors tremble with the rhythmic beat of the dance classes, the learners are immersed in all forms of the arts every day, whichever art subject they study (art, dance, drama or music). Principal Leon van Gent believes that this, the intense discipline needed to excel in the arts and doing something they really love and are inspired by every day, improves NSA learners’ academic results – borne out by the school’s impressive 15 successive year 100% matric pass rate.
Charlize Theron
Kitty Phetla
Professor Freschi
Rhian Touyz
Linda Olangunju
“With NSA’s focus on academic excellence together with intensive practical and theoretical arts tuition,” says van Gent, “we are stimulating curiosity and creativity in academics and arts, and actively developing our learners to go out and shape the world, in whatever career they pursue.” Samson Diamond
THE JOHANNESBURG
Youth Ballet Celebrating 40 years of nurturing young dancers
46 / Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016
www.jyb.co.za
Image credits: Mark Wolhuter
N
ext year the Johannesburg Youth Ballet celebrates its 40th anniversary. In 1976, the most tumultuous year in the history of the youth of South Africa, the late Audrey King – a highly respected dance teacher and choreographer – was invited to
present a work at the annual International Festival of Youth and Performing Arts in Aberdeen, Scotland. A fearless crusader for artistic excellence and racial equality, she overcame political opposition and selected the first completely non-racial youth dance group to represent South Africa overseas. The performance of her newly choreographed ballet Waratah at the Festival was a resounding success and to capitalise on the experience of performing within a ‘professional atmosphere’, the Johannesburg Youth Ballet (JYB) was formed, with the late Dame Margot Fonteyn as its President. From its early foundations the JYB has offered opportunity, hope and the possibility to achieve and it still remains at the forefront of Youth Ballet in South Africa. The Johannesburg Youth Ballet is extremely proud of its history and it is remarkable that this has been achieved without the benefit of a long-term sponsor or benefactor. Albeit at some times with great difficulty, continuity over the years has been achieved by the sheer power of enthusiasm, energy and hard work on the part of the artistic management, committee and parents of dancers of the day. The occasional one-off sponsorship, fund raising exercises and ticket sales helped along the way and it must be remembered that everyone involved, including teachers, worked in a voluntary capacity, without any remuneration. The company is currently about forty strong with ages of the dancers ranging from eleven-year-olds to those in their early twenties. The outreach component is crucial to the ethos of the JYB, which sponsors in the region of 20 dancers from under-resourced areas at any given time. This covers needy members’ fees, their weekly transport costs to and from classes, their dance gear and costumes and JYB endeavours to raise further sponsorship for them should there be a tour scheduled. Artistic Management aims to give young dancers of all races and socioeconomic backgrounds an opportunity to develop their art and skills, to work and perform in a professionally run company and to become, in time, educated audiences. Over the years a number of JYB alumni have given generously of their time and experience, returning as guest artists, guest choreographers or to assist as repetiteurs, lending the young dancers artistic and creative support. Included in the works from classical repertoire that JYB has presented at various times in the past are La Sylphide, Coppelia Act 1 and 3 and Sleeping Beauty Acts 1, 2 and 3, to name a few. Guest choreographers are also invited to work with the company. Most recently the JYB presented a programme – Peter and The Wolf and Other Ballets. Peter and The Wolf was produced by Jean Beckley and featured the original choreography of the late South African choreographer Frank Staff. Included were two works by Kate Martin: ‘Butterfly Lovers’, a work choreographed to the exquisite ‘Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto’ by Chen Gang and He Zhanha, and ‘Here You Are’, which received critical acclaim at the recent Dance World Cup in Romania. Johannesburg Youth Ballet – the place where fledgling dancers spread their wings and learn to fly…. CF
Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016 / 47
Dance Umbrella: 28 Years Later The first Dance Umbrella was funded by Vita Promotions Director, Philip Stein. From 1990 to 1992, AA Life stepped in, followed by IGI Life in 1993 and then long-time funder First National Bank (FNB) took over from 1994 until 2010. This committed sponsorship ensured the development and extension of Dance Umbrella. ‘When FNB came on board, we could play,’ says the Director of Dance Umbrella since 1997, Georgina Thomson. ‘We started commissioning new work when Dance Umbrella turned ten; we started residency programmes; we started collaborating nationally and internationally and the future looked rosy.’ By the time FNB determined to withdraw their support from Dance Umbrella, Vita Promotions had already closed due to cancellation of FNB funding for most of Vita Promotions projects – the National and Regional Theatre Awards, the Vita Art Prize and the contemporary dance awards, among others – and the retirement of Philip Stein. In 2012, Dance Umbrella became part of the annual Johannesburg International Arts Alive Festival on a three-year contract. A budget for the Dance Umbrella was then allocated by the City of Johannesburg and, although a quarter of what had been received from FNB,
The longevity of Dance Umbrella has been extraordinary. From the initial, small, three-day event, it has grown to a 15-day long festival. It now features commissioned new works from South African choreographers and carefullyselected international works.
D
Dance Umbrella continued ‘in two tiers,’ as Thomson explains. ‘A small presentation in the traditional calendar slot of February/March and then a ten-day event during Arts Alive in September.’ During this three-year period, Dance Forum (the administrators of Dance Umbrella) also received funding from the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF), resulting in a 15-day event in September 2013. With the conclusion of the Arts Alive contract, Dance Umbrella had to find other means of survival. Fortunately, funding was received from the NLDTF. This enabled the
ance Umbrella had its beginnings in 1989 when
presentation of an 18-day long event in 2015, featuring
Vita Promotions, responding to a suggestion
work from grassroots to international companies.
by two journalists, created a contemporary
Securing funding on a year-to-year basis proves to be no
dance platform called the Vita Dance Umbrella
easy task and, while funding from the Department of Arts
in Johannesburg. At the outset, the majority of companies
and Culture (DAC) and the Gauteng Department of Sport,
presenting works were white. This, of course, was the effect
Recreation, Arts and Culture has been secured for Dance
of apartheid. However, as one of the main aims of the
Umbrella 2016, nothing is yet in place for 2017.
Dance Umbrella was to bring everyone in the contemporary
The Dance Umbrella has, over the years, become an
dance industry together, programmes featuring mainly
important and essential conduit for emerging, young
mixed-bills with works from PACT Dance Company, Soweto
artists. ‘If we can continue to keep the Umbrella going,
Dance Theatre, traditional and hip-hop/pantsula dance and
even just a piece of it, that would be of value,’ says
afro-fusion, were presented.
Thomson. ‘I would hate to see it go away entirely.’ CF
48 / Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016
STANDARD BANK YOUNG ARTIST AWARD WINNERS NEVER STOP MOVING FORWARD
Black and Blue: An Epitome of Democracy and Moving On
F
ollowing an eleven-year break, legendary play Black and Blue returned to the Market Theatre in October to sold-out performances. The long-awaited hit story about loss, love, healing and gardening
stars Standard Bank Young Artist Sylvaine Strike (The Travellers, Coupé, The Table, The Miser) and Atandwa Kani (Hayani, The Island, The Miser), with direction by James Cuningham. Performed in a detailed, heightened style, every second of Mrs Swart’s (Sylvaine Strike) existence is alarmingly magnified. Paranoid of life beyond the four walls of her blue house, and stifling in the blue fog of her grief, she eventually succumbs to the persuasive knocking at her door. The angelic arrival of Jackson Siboiboi (Atandwa Kani), who seeks to work as a gardener in her abandoned garden, initiates a relationship that blossoms through fragility and a change of heart. Black and Blue was revived in 2014 at the 40th anniversary of the National Arts Festival, where Strike served as the Festival’s featured artist. The position is offered to an artist who is ‘prolifically producing work’, with a significant focus on interdisciplinary and collaborative work. As a result, the Festival featured
//
“I was asked to return Black and Blue to the festival as an homage to how my work started. It made a massive impact on the fringe when it was created [in 2004]. It was a firm favourite and launched my signature and me as an artist” \\ four pieces directed by Strike: Cargo: Precious, On the Harmful Effects of Tobacco, Agreed and The God Complex and saw her returning to the stage for the first time in seven years to star alongside Atandwa Kani in Black and Blue. ‘I was asked to return Black and Blue to the festival as an homage to how my work started. It made a massive impact on the fringe when it was created [in 2004]. It was a firm favourite and launched my signature and me as an artist,’ says Strike. According to Strike, this amusingly bleak piece is viewed as ‘an epitome of democracy and moving on’. It was never intended as a political play, but it’s always been perceived as one. ‘It seems like a very naïve piece of work,’ says Strike, ‘but it still holds its ground really well. In terms of our democracy it had a really strong Black and Blue featuring Atandwa Kani and Sylvaine Strike
voice then, and the challenge is to keep the story and make that voice even stronger.’ CF
Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016 / 49
Provocatively
Theatre facilitator and creator Jade Bowers has been recognised as the Standard Bank Young Artist Award winner for Theatre 2016. The talented young artist is known for producing cutting-edge works and has amassed some of South Africa’s top theatre awards in the past couple of years. Creative Feel’s Nondumiso Msimanga spoke to Bowers about the Award.
50 / Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016
S
itting for tea with Jade Bowers is like visiting an old friend for the first time. She slightly rocks the chair as she quips about Joko being a really good tea now that the price of Twinings has gone up.
She must be the most unassuming person yet to take the coveted title of Standard Bank Young Artist for Theatre. The 2016 winner of South Africa’s most hankered after theatre award puts her hands to her face and says with bright eyes that ‘It feels wrong!’ Her surprise is attributed to the fact that she does not do ‘what I’d call commercial work’. She creates her meaningful output by this simple philosophy: ‘People must either love it or hate it. It must either be fantastic or horrific!’ There is no median with Bowers’ work. She has been experimenting with the most authentic ways to tell the stories that move her. These narratives speak to her from the underbelly of history and are tied by a need to answer the questions ‘How do you define yourself?’ and ‘What do you stand for?’ Bowers stands for the acknowledgement of individual stories within the grand narrative of being a South African during a time that she terms the post-post-apartheid era. ‘There are always stories to tell. It’s ingrained in our South African culture. I think it’s a calling in a way,’ she leans back in her chair and swings. The call to find and articulate the stories that she seeks seems to simply pour out of her as instinctively as her breaths. Bowers does not even call herself a director; she prefers to think of herself as a facilitator who guides her actors’ stories. And the story that most concerns her in this post-post-apartheid time is that of individual history. ‘Identity, it’s something I find with most coloured people that are doing research at this time. As coloured people we find a lack… If I look back in my history there’s Malay and Indian and “Coloured” that comes from a history that’s not written down,’ she states. Her Standard Bank Silver Ovation Award-winning work What the Water Gave Me (2014), performed by Cherae Halley, catapulted her particular mode of storytelling into the spotlight, gaining her a Naledi Award nomination for Best Cutting Edge Production. In that year she was also recognised with an ImpACT Award for Theatre and has seen the awards continue to roll in this year. She recalls working with Halley and says, ‘We had an intense moment. I was scared I broke her. It changed from there and we both had that moment at the same time.’ The facilitator similarly created the provocatively potent iHamlet, written by Robin Malan and performed by Ashraf Johaardien. She has established a unique ability to craft the one-person show, culminating in the Standard Bank Ovation Award-winning Tin Bucket Drum in 2015. Bowers nearly gave
Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016 / 51
birth to her son during rehearsals. She recalls smilingly, ‘He
Chamberlain have made her sets and ‘everything’. Bowers
was two weeks old and he was in rehearsals for Tin Bucket
says, ‘I would not be able to do what I do without them. It
Drum: Mackenzie Bowers-Chamberlain.’ Her team is her
would be impossible.’
family. Even Johaardien, who isn’t related to her, is her
Impossible, is what she thought when she got the call
creative soul-mate with whom she watches far too much
from the National Arts Festival artistic director. ‘I was sitting
Grey’s Anatomy and so calls him ‘my person’. But having
at home breast feeding my baby and you never NOT pick
rehearsed the Neil Coppen play in her garage whilst caring
up a call from Ismail Mahomed,’ she smiles. She is excited,
for her newly born son, she truly did have her family as her
proud and grateful for this honour but also terrified of the
team. Her father made the set and her mother sewed the
pressure. She is not going to change her process to fit the
pants. She laughs that ‘it’s awesome!’ but she suddenly has a
pressure. The work she will present in July ‘has to be
lump in her throat when she speaks about how it always has
small’. It is going to be an adaptation of a novel. She
been a family affair. Her father Gary Bowers and her husband Darren
leans forward and stares out dreamily when she says, ‘It makes me feel nostalgic for a past that I’ve never experienced.’ In her words: ‘It’s either going to be fantastic or horrific. I don’t do mediocre!’ CF
52 / Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016
“It’s either going to be fantastic or horrific. I don’t do mediocre!”
Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016 / 53
Opening Doors Creative Feel met with James Ngcobo, the passionate and articulate artistic director of the Market Theatre to discuss the past, present and future of the theatre that will be 40 in 2016.
Rehearsals for Songs from Jazz Town with James Ngcobo. Photograph by Iris Parker
54 / Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016
The Return of Elvis du Pisanie starring Lionel Newton. Photograph by Brett Rubin
‘O
ne of the things that I feel very strongly
the Market Theatre, Dorothy Ann Gould.’ ‘I wanted, in the
about is a sense of cutting-edge at the
middle of these two dramatic works [The Return of Elvis du
Market that we have to keep working on
Pisanie and Noise], this new thing that audiences can come
constantly,’ begins James Ngcobo. ‘We
to the Market and celebrate the South African songbook,’
have to constantly excite and surprise our audience with everything that we curate or programme.’ An important part
explains Ngcobo. ‘This is what Jazz Town is about.’ ‘From the day I arrived at the Market, I remember I even
of his role as artistic director has meant ‘understanding that
spoke to the CEO and said, “I really want to do year-end
the Market Theatre needs to start operating in a country that
musicals,” because we do dramatic works the whole year at
has gone through a complete metamorphosis,’ he explains.
the Market Theatre and I would like people to know that
Turning 40 is a big event for one of South Africa’s most historically important theatres and, while the programme for
“entertainment” isn’t a swearword at the Market Theatre.’ With Jazz Town, ‘we are celebrating a sound that was
their June birthday celebrations is still under wraps, Ngcobo
born out of Queenstown in the Eastern Cape, because a
shares some of the exciting line-up for the rest of 2015 and
lot of our jazz composers share one thing: they were born
2016. All of the programming, all of the work, is centred on
in Queenstown. It was really a hub that produced such a
‘getting people back’ and ‘creating new audiences’. ‘I am
strong musicality about it. Even people like Gibson Kente,
absolutely passionate about new audiences!’
who is one of the people that we are celebrating here,
2015 ends with Jazz Town, Paul Slabolepszy’s The
was influenced by that sound and so… Last year we took
Return of Elvis du Pisanie and Noise, ‘directed by one of our
the production, we incubated the work and toured it in
unbelievable actresses, who is directing for the first time at
eight little towns in the Eastern Cape. At that time, it was
Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016 / 55
Songs from Jazz Town. Photograph by Iris Parker
celebrating Queenstown. But then, this year I’ve decided
to be performed by black and coloured actors.’ And, he adds,
to revisit it, because I thought the biggest story here is
‘we are working on staging a musical about the life of Hugh
the story of how the sound of Jazz Town has travelled. You
Masekela as one of our seminal works for next year.’ A Raisin
could be in a jazz club in London and see a young girl who
in the Sun is a work that Ngcobo ‘feels very strongly about’
graduated from UCT singing songs that are completely
– ‘Lorraine Hansberry wrote about racial tension in America
influenced by the sound of Jazz Town. You could be in
in the 1950s. What she wrote about is still a huge problem in
Belgium, in Antwerp and watch Tutu Puoane performing…’
America. And it gives our actors a chance to pick up a South
‘We are going to be a home for the next four years
Side of Chicago accent!’
of the Johannesburg International Film Festival (JIFF),’
2016 will also see the return of old favourites, like
he says. ‘There is a lovely synergy between the type of
William Kentridge and Handspring Puppet’s Ubu and the
audience that will go to JIFF and the audiences that we get
Truth Commission, and classics not yet seen at the Market,
to the Market.’
such as Zakes Mda’s The Dying Screams of the Moon, directed
‘One of the things we are doing, also next year, is taking
by John Kani. ‘You can’t celebrate 40 years and not have
Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night,’ expresses
certain people,’ says Ngcobo. Classics will also be revisited
Ngcobo. ‘we’ve commissioned someone who’s translating
by young directors, to ‘tap into a memory space’ but also to
the piece for us and adapting it into Afrikaans, and it’s going
make people say, ‘I saw it before… but not like that!’
56 / Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016
Songs from Jazz Town. Photograph by Iris Parker
In particular, to celebrate Shakespeare’s 400th birthday, sonnets and excerpts of plays will be given to young directors
writers, young choreographers, young directors, is a theatre that is looking forward.’
to re-interpret and re-imagine. ‘We are charging forward but
And looking forward includes the staging of plays in
look back and pick up this jewel from the past and give it to a
different languages, such as the first fully Setswana play
beautiful young director and they gallop with it,’ he explains.
that ran last year and was commissioned by the Market
There will also be new works, written by young playwrights,
Theatre. For 2016, a play in Sesotho is in the process of
such as I See You, which was developed as part of an exchange
being commissioned. Theatre will be taken to the people
between the Market Theatre and the Royal Court, facilitated
so that people may take to the theatre. Work is being
by the SA-UK Seasons. The play will open in London with a
done to make the Market Theatre more visible in spaces
mixed cast of British and South African actors and will then
around Johannesburg and Newtown, one example of this
travel to South Africa to play at the Market Theatre.
being the play readings that are taking place in some of
This mix of new and classic, young and old, is an important one for Ngcobo, who says ‘we are passionate
Johannesburg’s most historic buildings. With 25 works set to be staged in 2016, this spectacular
about the collision of emerging and of seasoned voices –
celebratory year means that there is something for everyone
to see those working together… It is opening our doors to
at the Market. Watch this space for more on upcoming plays
young directors… A theatre that is very receptive to young
and June celebrations. CF
Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016 / 57
Oresteia
Oresteia was recently shown on the West End following a sellout run at the Almeida, where it has been universally hailed as an astonishing, bold and exhilarating theatrical feat. Aeschylus’ greatest and final play is directed by Robert Icke (Mr. Burns; 1984) and stars Lia Williams (Old Times; Earthquakes in London) as Klytemnestra and Jessica Brown Findlay (Downton Abbey) as Electra.
A
clock ticks. It counts exactly how much time the
the 5th century B.C.E Aeschylus’ Oresteia shifted the notion
audience has during the intervals. The actors
of Orestes as mythological hero, as the exemplar for how
do not vacate the stage. They stare out into the
to be a man. Seminal Greek scholar and consultant on this
auditorium. They make the audience complicit
re-visioning of the classic play, Professor Simon Goldhill
in the action when it resumes. The clock stops to tell the
says, ‘The Oresteia is a perfect instance of how tragedy
time and date of every death. This is the latest adaptation of
rewrites stories of the past as a story for and as a challenge
Aeschylus’ Oresteia by Robert Icke. It is edge-of-your-seat
to the democratic city and its values.’ Speaking, here, about
nail-biting suspense in a play where everyone already knows
Aeschylus’ version, it is uncanny how the same words can be
the ending. It is masterful. On the London West End stage
applied to Icke’s re-imagining of the text to current politics.
the characters are at home. Agamemnon is the honoured
When Calchas says, ‘This has all happened before. And
Prime Minister and Clytemnestra is his first lady. The
more than once’ at the very beginning of this play, the clock is
politics of today are placed under intense scrutiny as though
still internal. It is the beating rhythms of the entrances of the
the home of the power couple were a microcosm, a petri
chorus and Agamemnon that set the pace and it is terrifyingly
dish, of society at large; and everything has gone wrong.
familiar. The audience already knows how this story ends
True to the original function of the ancient Greek
and Icke manipulates this with terrific finesse. The story is
festivals – held at the assembly of the polis where decisions
cast in contemporary clothing with screens and a live-video
regarding the democratic running of the state would also be
feed. The protagonist Orestes is having flashbacks of how the
made – this version takes for its theme democracy itself. In
whole tragedy came to be but the images are disturbed by his
58 / Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016
memory. He sits as the embodiment of the key questions that
its effects on the falling body – the scapegoats of history
Aeschylus threw into the Orestes myth so long ago: ‘What
for all eternity. When Orestes finally kills her, as the myth
should I do? Should I respect my mother and not kill her?’ In
wrote down in history, the clock stops and we are back in the
this version, Orestes also asks, ‘Where does it end?’
mythological vortex that makes it seem like simple teleology,
The ending is already known, the clock ticks the immediacy
a causal narrative where she must always lose, but here we are
of the action and the urgency of it means that all are culpable.
involved in an epic form that searches after its own plot as it is
The audience is asked to decide the fate of Orestes who killed
unfolding. Orestes is not just protagonist; he is both mirror and
his mother; they are asked why her death counts for less than
microscope dissecting the ancient story to try to reassess the
that of the father and why the life of the son must be spared
memory that has been given of the roles that genders have been
when the daughter’s was not. The fact that Aeschylus actually
cast in. His memory keeps failing to reach into the source of the
asked the question about the mother when the original myth
flooding river of images that seem to make it inevitable that
had completely ignored the female deaths as necessary is
woman must finally and always serve the lesser role where she
what makes this questioning of democracy and its brand of
is punished more harshly for her wrongs than he who is made a
justice crucial. It places women in the story of how the world
monument for bringing her down.
should best be governed. It places women at the centre of
As with Aeschylus, Icke’s ending is not a mere acceptance
the mythology and questions the myth of women in history.
of the mythological narrative. Orestes says, ‘There isn’t one
Woman is shown as a manifestation of falling. The perpetual
true story – a line of truth that stretches start to end.’ The
tormenting fall of Clytemnestra is paused for us to take in
roles are left dissected – open – in the petri dish. CF
Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016 / 59
Entangled Head in studio. Photograph by Rina Stutzer
Entangled Head
At the end of 2014, Angus Taylor’s solo show From Explicit to Implicit, held at Johannesburg’s Everard Read Gallery, attracted the attention of Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) and the Bank offered to partner with the opening event and sponsor the catalogue. One work demanded the attention of art custodian, Carolynne Waterhouse: Taylor’s Entangled Head III, a sculpture in which a large arrangement of rocks balance ‘Africa’ steadily upon a bronze head.
60 / Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016
Reflective Resonance, cast bronze, Belfast Granite and patina Edition of 4. Photograph by Carla Crafford.
“The agenda of the sculpture stays the same. It’s not that it suddenly promotes a concept that the Bank feels strongly about. Rather, it’s a concept that I feel strongly about, slightly altered, so that instead of referring only to the immediate environment, it encapsulates the whole continent... Because it’s told Installation images of Reflective Resonance in Franschhoek. Photograph by Danie Nel
E
through stone, it’s not so literal; it works well”
ntangled Head embodies many of Taylor’s key
natural material roughly 750 times older than us, and yet we
themes and ideas. The bronze bust stands well
don’t value it because there’s so much of it. Nobody recognises
below eye level, ‘so that the celebrated grandeur
the stone for its density and beauty, unless somebody brings it
of humanity is made smaller – not suppressed,
to the fore and says “look at it”,’ says Taylor.
but grounded and made modestly minimal.’ It is the rock
As such, the featured rock is left more or less as it was
balancing at eye level that is the work’s key focus, as the
discovered, ‘without my having dominated it with my own
artist encourages the viewer to dwell upon both its innate
imprint – thus trying to retain as much of the original patina
beauty and phenomenal age. ‘This stone is from the Bushveld
of the stone as possible,’ he explains. ‘There’s a little bit of
Igneous Complex, which is about two billion years old. We as
metal that rusts and the brown effect is a result of the stone
hominids are about three million years old, which makes the
absorbing the colours from the environment. Where it lay in
Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016 / 61
the veld or little mountain or koppie, it would crack, water would run through with the hydrothermal flow of water in the earth and deposit little bits of calcite or quartz or whatever... I tried to retain that.’ Taylor is besotted with stone and what it reveals about our environment: history on a scale that dwarfs human existence to the point of uncomfortable insignificance. He spends a fair amount of time reading geology and incorporating this into his work. ‘I discovered that I’m sitting on one of the most ancient mini continents, the Kaapvaal Craton. When Earth was just water, some of the volcanoes that pushed out with massive bubbles of stone were around here and the remnants of that environment still exist in places like Barberton,’ he marvels. For a show at Nirox earlier this year, Taylor collected samples of rock – Thabazimbi haematite, red jasper from Postmasburg, verdite, sugilite, and many other varieties. Using these he laid out a rough map, from which the viewer gets the impression of context, geologically speaking. In the centre, Taylor placed a section of rammed earth, filled with bits and pieces from the last 40 years – plastic soldiers, computer motherboards, etc. – once again demonstrating the tiny blip that represents the human timeframe. With Entangled Head Taylor sets out to depict our entanglement with the environment and, another of his key obsessions, our connectivity to it. ‘You’re not separate from where you are. Just as you’re not an island isolated from other people, you’re also not divisible from your specific environment. Recognising that grounds you!’ This ‘entangled’ state extends also to our relationship with other people sharing our environment, a truism that Taylor expresses through the bronze head, which he describes as ‘a generic portrait that I modelled, looking at everybody who works in the studio with me... a “features” hybrid of what South Africans will probably look like in 200 years – a creole...’ ‘To me, what it tells is a story of the cultural metamorphosis we have gone through,’ he adds. ‘The evolution of how we think, having lived for generations on this continent together... We’ve learnt so much from one another, concerning skills and thinking – there is an ongoing merger of different worlds.’ Linking the stone and bust is a line of silver dots, stainless steel pins and welded bobbles, a simple adornment that connects the sculpture’s powerful disparate sections. The steel ‘spine’ takes its inspiration from the Chiwara carved in Mali, a ritual artwork depicting a stylised antelope celebrating what was good about the year. While the basic
62 / Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016
Entangled Head II, Everard Read, 2014. Photograph by Elani Willemse
form of the Chiwara sculptures remain constant, the quality of harvest will be represented primarily in the degree to which the surfaces are decorated: ‘So if it was a plentiful harvest year, the sculptor carves more lines and textures, decorates it with lots of panel pins and brightly coloured pieces of material, creating detailed texture,’ explains Taylor. ‘In a bad year, it would be just the simple, basic shape without decoration.’ ‘I took the idea from there. If I want to celebrate something or make it special, like this stone, instead of altering the shape, I just decorate it with little pins. At the same time, the connecting line runs through my thinking, and my inextricable connection to the environment.’ In short, Entangled Head serves as a visual metaphor for connectivity to, and celebration of our environment. When confronted with the work, RMB’s Carolynne Waterhouse identified a resonance with the Bank’s strategic focus – ‘Think Africa.’ As such, she approached Taylor with a suggestion to revisit the sculpture, this time shaping the rock borne by the bronze head to resemble the continent. At first, Taylor was a little hesitant, feeling that this might make the work too literal – ‘“Think Africa”, and then you have this object, almost like a light bulb, on top of the head,’ he recalls. Nevertheless, the idea captured his imagination. ‘So I tried with just an outline, but had to make it more volumetric, a bit more solid. I broke it up, so that through deduction you get this shape, because many stones combine to create this singular concept or idea.’ ‘The agenda of the sculpture stays the same. It’s not that it suddenly promotes a concept that the Bank feels strongly about. Rather, it’s a concept that I feel strongly about, slightly altered, so that instead of referring only to the immediate environment, it encapsulates the whole continent... Because it’s told through stone, it’s not so literal; it works well.’ Ultimately, Entangled Head forms a kind of paean to home and a sense of place, from an artist who clearly feels Africa in his bones and beating through his blood. ‘If you grew up here, you’re used to the bright sun and the dark shadows, and when you go to a place where everything is grey and ordered, where you don’t have these conflicting intensities – you don’t feel right,’ says Taylor. ‘Because this is your environment, you’re “entangled” with this, regardless of whether you want to be or not. You’re not a spirit, living in a body, living on top of a continent, on top of the land. We’re in it, we flow from it and we finally go back into it. It’s all connected and fascinatingly entangled.’ CF
Entangled Head III side angle. Photograph by 2015 Rina /Stutzer Creative Feel / December January 2016 / 63
A Time of Light In creating a stamp sheet celebrating 2015 as the International Year of Light, multimedia artist Marcus Neustetter brings an extended series of works into a cohesive whole, and marks a ‘fresh ending’.
Hogsback Nature II – Fiber optic lights with participants of the Fiber Optic Conference.
64 / Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016
Cave IX – archeological dig site, Cradle of Humankind, South Africa
Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016 / 65
‘J
ohannesburg based artist, cultural activist and
thread in Neustetter’s works over the years. As such, when
producer, Marcus Neustetter, reflects critically
the South African Post Office commissioned him to create a
and playfully on his context through his art
sheet of stamps celebrating 2015 as the International Year
and collaborative projects… Mostly process
of Light, it offered the artist an opportunity to draw several
driven, his production of art at the intersection
strands of work together into a cohesive whole. In addition,
of art, science and technology has led him to work in a
the National Science and Technology forum and the
multi-disciplinary approach from conventional drawings to
Department of Science and Technology funded the further
permanent and temporary site specific installations, mobile
creation of work with communities across the country – to
and virtual interventions and socially engaged projects
‘activate communities’ – and the net result is a collection
internationally,’ details his personal website.
in which people tell their own stories in light, capturing a
‘Just by moving dust away, you’re looking back in time;
moment in time and place. The works are all site-specific,
and by looking at the stars you’re looking back in time. We’re
place and context likewise shaping the ‘portal’ that we look
always living in this moment of the past – there’s only this
through, the bias with which we view the world.
Big Bang – In collaboration with youth from Sutherland (Karoo), using rope lights and long-exposure photography
thin sliver of now that we’re exploring. I’m interested in
Sweep – Central Port Elizabeth
Experimenting with light encourages uninhibited,
that,’ says Neustetter. And so, during a residency at Nirox,
playful activity from Neustetter’s many collaborators: ‘I
the artist became fascinatedby the archaeological cave them
leave it open, I say to people, “the studio is the city, the
as portals, a threshold between these two pasts: a metaphor
tools are the glowsticks and the brooms, so do whatever
for the ‘thin slither of now’.
you like: let’s just try and create a journey with it.”’ In
Neustetter’s preoccupation with such portals is also an
the safe anonymity of darkness, people feel free to try
interest in ‘shedding light’: whether following his ‘vertical
all kinds of things. At a light sweep in Port Elizabeth,
gaze’ underground or into deep space, ‘light is the thing that
where Neustetter and his assistants swept thousands
gives us access to these dark spaces,’ he says.
of glowsticks from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan
Playing with light – using glowsticks, lasers, projections or fibre optic lamps, you name it – has been a recurring
66 / Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016
University’s (NMMU) Bird Street campus, down the newly upgraded Donkin Reserve election queue pathway
to Vuyisile Mini Square, one woman threw herself into
phenomena seen through a remote telescope: they build
the mass of glowsticks and rolled down the hill. Others
both ‘nebula and a landing strip for the aliens, of course,’
sketched luminous images into the night, threw lights
recalls Neustetter.
in the air and photographed them. ‘Everyone just participated, and it was fun,’ recalls Neustetter. Fun is an important aspect of his work. ‘Even play has
Ten Sutherland youths fashion a ‘Big Bang’ by swinging long rope lights, while a woman who wants to be at the centre of the universe sits amidst galaxies created for her
serious undertones... playing with certain subjects, for
by children of the Karoo. A glow stick sweep through Cape
example, means that you’re commenting in one form or
Town ends in light drawings of the destroyed houses of
another, even if you’re not doing it consciously,’ he says.
District Six. In Plettenberg Bay, the Beacon Isle Hotel is lit
‘It’s not just a question of escapism. I think it’s a matter of
with a giant fish, alluding to the story of a fisherman whose
dealing with reality... One of the people that took part in this
grandfather used to fish there when it was still a whaling
light sweep turned around and said to me afterwards, “I’ve
station – ‘he told me the story of the ocean called Susie, and
actually never seen PE like this. It got me really thinking
he gave me a fish,’ recalls Neustetter. ‘A lot of it was about
Demarcations – Drawing the “removed” in District 6, Cape Town.
about the fear that I have for the darkness, the fear that
the mystery of the ocean and the unknown, what’s out there,
I’ve got for the city at night. You’ve given me a different
navigating by stars...’
perspective on it.” Now, she thought about that afterwards – while she was playing, she was in heaven.’ While each of the images captures all the beauty and visceral thrill of light, it also tells a tale. In the Karoo
Another image shows the overgrown woods of Hogsback transformed into a fairy tale forest of fibre optic lamps during a conference on optical fibre. On a NMMU research farm in Kabucha, just outside
township of Amandelboom, several youths create the
Addo Elephant park, Neustetter had two students
unknown, yet imagined form of the almond trees – long
metaphorically represent their projects – one looking
since dead – for which the area is named. In the midst of the
into the flammable qualities of different plants, the
Vredefort Dome, site of an ancient meteor collision, students
other investigating the freezing points of levels on the
taking part in Space School SA spend their nights recreating
mountains – by drawing in the dark with fire and blue light
Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016 / 67
Dancing in a Prehistoric Footprint – A performance by a reel-dance group in Fraserburg with LED rope lights.
respectively. Homage to research, and the bounty of nature
identification with the dismissed Khoi San history, which
in the valley, home to five biomes.
many people there come from’.
A number of the images hail from Sutherland, where for
Similarly, in Fraserburg, Neustetter, Lace and a group
several years Neustetter has collaborated with artist Bronwyn
of youths addressed the ‘gap’ between the paleontological
Lace on the Sutherland Reflections project, using artistic
history associated with the area’s pre-dinosaur footprints,
interventions to connect the observatory with its surrounding
and the arrival of white culture featured in the local museum.
community. ‘For example, we started to fly kites to get kids to
‘Coloured history is totally ignored, there’s this gap... And
look up, to make the connection to the observatory,’ he says.
so some of the questions we were asking was how can you
‘A lot of money gets pumped into the observatory, yet
capture some of that content, how do you speak about it –
people are living in poverty, fear and hopelessness- and this
because a lot of it is hidden. It’s hidden in the dances, the
in the dark because light pollution there is an issue. Through
music they play...’ In the resulting photograph, the children
art and science collaboration, we’ve been able to change
have drawn a dinosaur spoor, within which they appear as
some of those perceptions, celebrating darkness and silence
blurs of light – ‘filling that next step, to a certain extent,
as a quality. Evoking the history of the place, to talk about
before we get to the white history museum’, says Neustetter.
the inhabitants’ heritage and cultural background, and their
‘They decided to do Riel Dance (the dance-descendant of the
68 / Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016
One Woman at the Centre of the Universe – Audience-performers interacting with rope lights
old Khoi and San fireside rituals) inside this spoor. They’re
thereby critiquing our ‘complex relationship with yet another
wearing these light elements, so that as they’re dancing these
colonial power in Africa’, with ourselves as the consumerist
elements are moving, and what you’re seeing there, is them.’
trash collectors of the world powers. The work also reflects on
Neustetter has been playing with light for seven or eight years; the release of the stamp sheet and associated exhibition mark ‘fresh endings’, he says. ‘I’m bringing this
the artist’s confrontations with light ownership and personal empowerment in a post-apartheid South Africa. From November Neustetter will spend two months on a
process to a close... I feel it’s necessary because I’ve got a lot
fellowship with the Smithsonian in Washington, exploring
of parallel things running.’
the collections of the Air and Space museum and the African
One of these new journeys is the processing of the materials
Art Museum. He plans to research ‘how artists and scientists,
used to create light works, usually light toys and gadgets
artisans, have tried to depict the imaginary, be it through
bought cheaply at Chinese outlets. Neustetter’s seemingly
the Dogon masks linking to the spirit world, or astronauts in
temporary light activities have permanent bi-products in the
space, dreaming about what’s beyond,’ he says.
form of waste such as thousands of dead glow-sticks, broken
‘But you know what’s going to happen – I’m going to see
LEDs, plastic casings and packaging materials. From this
five new things and say that’s it: scrap that research, I’m
‘trail of waste’, he is creating artworks to send back to China,
going in another direction.’ CF
Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016 / 69
Protégés of the seventh cycle of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative (2014-2015): Sammy Baloji, Gloria Cabral, Sebastián Solórzano Rodríguez, Myles Thatcher, Tom Shoval, Miroslav Penkov, Vasco Mendonça. Campus Biotech, Geneva Switzerland
A Celebration of Mentoring The Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative was created to assist extraordinary, rising artists in achieving their full potential by pairing them with great masters for a year of creative collaboration, in Architecture, Dance, Film, Literature, Music, Theatre and Visual Arts.
70 / Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016
T
his year, Mexico City, one of the world’s most vibrant international arts centres, will host hundreds of artists and creative leaders from Latin America and the rest of the world on the 5th to
6th of December. The exclusive Arts Weekend will celebrate the culmination of the 2014-2015 Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative. Switzerland, Paraguay and South Korea were the principal settings for the mentor of architecture, the widely revered Swiss architect Peter Zumthor, and his protégé, Paraguayan architect Gloria Cabral. A busy, collaborative partnership that grew rapidly from the start, Cabral became project manager for Zumthor’s design of a tea chapel near Seoul. Cabral made several visits to Haldenstein, her mentor’s Swiss base, spending up to a month at a time working with Zumthor and his team. Another highlight of the productive partnership was Zumthor’s visit to Cabral’s hometown of Asunción. Peter Zumthor has gained international recognition for his timeless buildings that incorporate his masterful use of materials, bringing in light and challenging the senses. Among Zumthor’s most celebrated projects are his ‘masterpiece’, the Therme Vals (1996, Switzerland), famed for its evocative use of space and exquisite construction details; the Kunsthaus Bregenz (1997, Austria); the Swiss Sound Box, Swiss Pavilion Expo 2000 (Germany); the Bruder Klaus Field Chapel (2007, Germany); and the Kolumba Art Museum (2007, Germany). For Gloria Cabral, designing buildings is based on thinking about how the space will be used as apposed to conceiving them as objects d’art. While still studying, she was employed as an intern at prestigious Asunción-based architecture firm, Gabinete de Arquitectura. Cabral was made full partner in 2004. For the past ten years, Cabral has worked with the Gabinete team on projects informed by strong environmental and social concerns. A notable project was the Teletón Children’s Rehabilitation Center, which won first prize at the 2010 Bienal Panamericana de Arquitectura de Quito in the recycling category. Classical ballet is not frozen in the past but is a living, evolving art – this shared conviction provided a basis for a working relationship between mentor Alexei Ratmansky and protégé Myles Thatcher. The pair found time in their busy schedules to observe each other at work on both the east and west coasts of the United States and in Munich, where the Russian choreographer was preparing a new production of Paquita. Ratmansky, eager to provide feedback to his protégé, visited San Francisco where Thatcher was rehearsing dancers for a new piece of choreography. Widely recognised as one of the world’s most influential and sought-after choreographers, Alexei Ratmansky is
Kaija Saariaho, mentor. Lyon, France, 2014.
Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016 / 71
Alejandro G. Iñárritu, mentor. Los Angeles, US, 2014
currently artist-in-residence at the American Ballet Theatre.
In a highly eventful mentoring year for film, Israeli
He is credited with moving ballet forward while maintaining
filmmaker and screenwriter Tom Shavel was invited to
its classical origins and revitalising storytelling in his
watch post-production work on mentor Alejandro González
productions. Over the years, Ratmansky has created solo
Iñárritu’s masterpiece, Birdman, and was present when his
works for Baryshnikov, Diana Vishneva and Wendy Whelan,
mentor received three Academy Awards for his film at the
and ballets for, among others, the Paris Opera, La Scala and,
2015 Oscars. González Iñárritu invited Shoval to witness the
in 2013, the Royal Ballet. Ratmansky was named a MacArthur
filming of his new feature film, The Revenant, in the Canadian
Fellow by the MacArthur Foundation in 2013.
Rockies. The young director was almost overwhelmed by his
Myles Thatcher attended the Harid Conservatory in Florida and studied at New York’s Ellison Ballet School before joining
mentor’s generosity in terms of access given. Mexican film director, producer, screenwriter and former
the San Francisco Ballet School Trainee Program in 2008. In
composer Alejandro González Iñárritu is celebrated for
2009, he joined the company as an apprentice and was accepted
his films, which capture the interconnectedness of human
into the corps de ballet a year later. Two of his latest works for
beings and mine the complex realm of dramatic realism. His
the school’s trainees are Spinae (2011 – 2012) and Stone and
successful career in filmmaking has recently been crowned by
Steel (2013). Both are the result of Thatcher encouraging strong
the many accolades for his recent film, Birdman.
feedback from his dancers. He will now choreograph a piece for the San Francisco Ballet’s 2015 repertory season.
72 / Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016
Tom Shoval has won rave reviews for his sharp visual style and storytelling abilities. He graduated from Jerusalem’s
Jennifer Tipton, mentor. New York, US, 2014
Sam Spiegel Film and Television School where the founding
Michael Ondaatje is recognised for his evocative narrative
director Renen Schorr, described him as ‘one of the most
and lyrical style. Over nearly five decades, his linguistic
significant and committed talents I have ever seen.’ Shoval’s
prowess has won him international acclaim and numerous
award-winning short films, which include The Hungry Heart
literary awards. The multiculturalism reflected in Ondaatje’s
(2005), Shred of Hope (2007) and I Will Drink My Tears (2011),
works echoes his own life history. Born in Ceylon (now
have been screened at film festivals worldwide.
Sri Lanka), he moved to England as a young boy before
With much in common – both mentor and protégé for
immigrating to Canada where he attended university and
literature have changed countries and cultures and have
taught for several years at York University’s Glendon College
careers as both teachers and writers – Canadian Michael
before writing full-time.
Ondaatje and US-based Bulgarian Miroslav Penkov quickly
Protégé Miroslav Penkov wants to ‘give voice to a voiceless
developed a strong literary friendship. While they discussed
people’ by allowing the world to read about Bulgaria and for
a multitude of books, the focus was on the young Bulgarian
the people of Bulgaria to start reading local literature again
short-story writer’s debut novel that he was writing in
after years of being mired in economic crisis.
English, his second language. At the end of the mentoring
‘In music, nothing is purely objective, not even the simplest
year, Penkov was delighted with the whole experience,
technical exercise,’ says mentor Kaija Saariaho, who shared her
especially as he had completed his novel, which is scheduled
experience as a composer with her Portuguese protégé, Vasco
for publication in March 2016.
Mendonça. A goal was to expose him to different professional
Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016 / 73
Peter Zumthor, mentor. Haldenstein, Switzerland, 2014
Alexei Ratmansky, mentor. Paris, France, 2014
situations and engaging him in ideas, music and its realisation.
performances in London, Barcelona, Paris, New York, Houston
Mendonça attended performances of Saariaho’s music around
and Madrid. Tipton is one of the world’s greatest exponents
the world – and twice his music was played at the same event as
of the art of lighting. Solórzano Rodríguez also invited his
hers. Mendonça found the experience of having ‘a second pair
mentor to Mexico City, his home town. They had a concrete
of eyes’ on his work invaluable.
plan of action at the beginning of the mentoring year, the
Acknowledged as one of the leading and most original composers of recent times, Kaija Saariaho is known for her brilliant creations that often blend traditional instruments with electronics for chamber music, orchestral works and operas. Portuguese composer Vasco Mendonça has begun
results of which, Solórzano Rodríguez later said, were that his life ‘has changed forever’. Jennifer Tipton has made significant contributions to her profession over nearly half a century of lighting theatrical, dance and opera productions. Best known for her designs
to attract considerable attention for his work on the
for dance, Tipton is principal lighting designer for the Paul
international music scene. Recent notable works include the
Taylor Dance Company, with whom she has worked since the
chamber music piece ‘The Boys of Summer’ (2012), as well as
mid-1960s. She also collaborates with some of the world’s
an hour-long chamber opera, The House Taken Over (2013).
most renowned choreographers, as well as on dozens of
Throughout the mentoring year for theatre, young Mexican lighting designer Sebastián Solórzano Rodríguez sat alongside Jennifer Tipton as she lit up rehearsals and
74 / Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016
theatrical and opera productions. Sebastián Solórzano Rodríguez uses light to express himself as a visual artist. He began his career by painting
Michael Ondaatje, mentor. New York, US, 2014
Olafur Eliasson, mentor. Berlin, Germany, 2014
scenery, then became scenography and lighting assistant
ideal mentor to work with Baloji at a crucial point in the
for the production agency Cornamusa and began creating
protégé’s artistic path as he was creating his first installation
stage lighting for the Centro de Producción de Danza
for exhibition at the Venice Art Biennale.
Contemporanea, the National Contemporary Dance Company
Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson describes his
of Mexico. Concurrently, he works with Luz Y Fuera: Cine
works, which span photography, installation, sculpture and
Expandido, an interdisciplinary group he cofounded that
film, as ‘experimental setups’. Eliasson represented Denmark
makes handmade light devices for art installations and live
at the 50th Venice Bienalle in 2003 and later that year
cinema performances.
installed The Weather Project at Tate Modern, London. Take
Sammy Baloji’s mentoring year for visual arts consisted
Your Time: Olafur Eliasson, a survey exhibition organised by
of a series of short but intense encounters with Olafur
SFMOMA in 2007, travelled until 2010 to various venues,
Eliasson, mainly in Berlin where Eliasson has his studio.
including the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Innen
The mentor declared from the start that he too wanted to
Stadt Aussen (Inner City Out), at Martin Gropius Bau in 2010,
learn from the process and the pair collaborated without a
involved interventions across Berlin as well as in the museum.
fixed plan, quickly building a strong rapport. They combined
Artist-photographer Sammy Baloji works between Belgium
intellectual discussion with clear advice for Baloji to develop
and his native Democratic Republic of Congo where he creates
his creativity across a spectrum of artistic media. Eliasson,
haunting photomontages of his homeland. ‘I use photography
known worldwide for his inventive art installations, was the
as a tool to write on my own society,’ says Baloji. CF
Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016 / 75
SA-UK Seasons: Cementing Partnerships Elan Isaac, Wales Millennium Centre’s Creative Learning Assistant, working with a group in Vredenburg on Cape Town Opera’s Amabali Ethu outreach project
Since the opening of the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff in 2004, Cape Town Opera has been an integral and strategic South African partner to this national Welsh performing arts centre. In 2015, the partnership is augmented in a new and unique way via funding from the SA-UK Seasons 2014-2015.
A
s a partnership between the Department of Arts
Cape Town Opera (CTO) has been touted as ‘Africa’s
and Culture, South Africa and the British Council,
premiere opera company’ and it and its talented core of
the SA-UK Seasons has provided funding and
singers have won numerous prestigious awards, including
support to various artists and arts organisations
the Best Chorus at the 2013 International Opera Awards.
in the UK and South Africa to aid in cooperation and
The Wales Millennium Centre (WMC) is Wales’ national
collaboration between the two nations. This funding has
home for the performing arts in Cardiff Bay. It is one of the
enabled artists and organisations to travel to the UK as part
UK’s top cultural attractions and is home to eight resident
of the SA Season in the UK, as well as UK projects taking
partners. This Welsh landmark stages musicals, opera, ballet,
place in SA as part of the British Council’s Connect ZA. A
circus and contemporary dances alongside the UK’s largest
third aspect of the Seasons is joint projects: those that are of
programme of free performances.
a collaborative nature between South Africa and the UK are supported through a joint fund. The Wales Millennium Centre and Cape Town Opera
Over the past ten years, CTO and WMC have mounted 50 performances of operas, concerts and musicals including Porgy and Bess; Mandela Trilogy; Show Boat;
partnership is one project funded by the SA-UK Seasons.
Merry Widow of Malagawi and Bryn Terfel in Concert,
Other notable SA projects taking place in the UK include:
in Cape Town, Cardiff and throughout the United
The Plastic’s November tour of the UK; Durban Music
Kingdom. This partnership is a key component of CTO’s
School’s performance at the Dundee Jazz Festival; the
sustainability as an arts organisation. It also provides
South African Jazz Concerts, Workshops and Seminar
WMC with diverse local and touring programming within
featuring Bokani Dyer and Adam Glasser in collaboration
the UK, and an unprecedented opportunity to feature
with Gareth Lokrane; and The Brother Moves On’s tour of
the best of South African and Welsh vocal talent on
Europe, taking their mentee, Venda/Tshonga folk singer-
international stages.
songwriter Itai Hakim with them and collaborating with UK artist Shabaka Hutchings.
76 / Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016
The SA-UK Seasons Partnership Grant supports four members of WMC’s and CTO’s staff to participate in
administrative, educational and technical exchanges at each other’s companies. In July 2015, South African bass soloist and music teacher
Further Outreach and Education programmes that the CTO embarked on in 2015 include the National Schools Tour for the South African Schools Choral Eisteddfod preparation
Thato Machona spent ten days in Cardiff as part of WMC’s
and the West Coast Choral Outreach. The Schools Tour is an
Refugee Week programming. Upon his return, Machona
annual project whereby CTO singers embark on a month-long
reported that, ‘I was inspired by the Wales Millennium
tour of South Africa, visiting towns in six different provinces.
Centre’s sense of and involvement in the community, as
Learners are given workshops teaching them the basic aspects
well as the public participation between the centre and local
of good vocal production, including warm-ups, breathing,
residents. It’s much more than a performance venue.’
resonance, vowels and consonants.
Shortly thereafter, WMC Producer Maris Lyons travelled
‘I am so grateful to have this opportunity to experience
to Cape Town for the companies’ coproduction The Merry
the culture of the city and rural communities, and to work on
Widow of Malagawi, which premiered at Artscape Theatre
a person-to-person basis with both professionals and children
Centre on 5 September.
here in South Africa,’ comments Isaac. ‘It’s fascinating
WMC’s Creative Learning Assistant, Elan Isaac, is
how CTO supports creative learning in innovative ways – I
currently travelling in South Africa, partaking in the CTO’s
will take everything that I have learned back to Wales to
Education and Outreach programmes. Her first journey was
implement it the way we work.’
to the South African West Coast community of Vredenburg,
CTO’s Technical Production Manager, Jaco Nothnagel,
engaging with CTO’s Amabali Ethu project (Xhosa for ‘Our
will work with the WMC technical department on their
Stories’). In Vredenburg, CTO works with 80 primary and
productions of Sweeney Todd and Mac and Mabel in
high school learners from Masiphathisane Primary and
Cardiff this November. Looking to the future, WMC will
Louwville High. They are assisted in writing and composing
host CTO’s musical production of Mandela Trilogy on a
their own operas based on stories relevant to their lives
27-performance UK tour in August 2016. Nothnagel’s
and community. She also participated in the Magic Flute
first-hand experiences with WMC’s production staff will
Schools Outreach Project at St Mary’s School in Retreat,
be helpful as the companies begin technical and logistical
Cape Town. Through the story of The Magic Flute, learners
planning for the tour.
are taught to read music, play the recorder and sing and
Bongani Tembe, Commissioner-General of the SA-UK
dance in a production performed at the end of the year.
Seasons, congratulated both parties on an outstanding
Isaac also advised CTO on best practices to implement
partnership that exemplifies the reciprocity of the
hearing- and sight-impaired technology for Cape Town-
SA-UK Seasons.
based opera audiences, as WMC’s disability inclusion programmes are well established.
To find out more about projects funded by the SA-UK Seasons, visit www.southafrica-unitedkingdom.com. CF
Cape Town Opera’s Thato Machona who spent time at the Welsh Millennium Centre in June 2015
Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016 / 77
Heartland Deep South have announced that they will release their second album, Heartland, this November. The world music duo, comprised of Dave Ledbetter and Ronan Skillen, collaborated with some of Europe’s most sought-after world music musicians on this lyrical and fluid album. Creative Feel’s Tamaryn Greer spoke to Skillen about the release and making music.
B
est known for his session work as a jazz musician,
Deep South is the realisation of the collaborative potential
guitarist and pianist, Dave Ledbetter also fronted
of a twelve-year friendship between Ledbetter and Skillen
The Truly Fully Hey Shoo Wow Band in the 1980s
and the duo was officially formed in 2011. Despite the
and ‘90s. Respected among local musicians,
generational gap, there is a mutual respect and understanding
Ledbetter has the unique ability to perform across genres.
that exists between the two. ‘Dave has an immense knowledge
With Deep South he has distilled his vast knowledge of jazz,
and history in music and it started off with a fascination from
folk, funk and blues into an acoustic world music blend. He
my side. We collaborated on and off, sometimes didn’t see
has performed with Miriam Makeba, Ray Phiri, Hein Van de
each other for long stretches of time, but became Deep South
Geyn, Sibongile Khumalo and Jimmy Dludlu, among others.
over time,’ says Skillen. The name, Deep South, is a reference
Multi-instrumentalist Ronan Skillen who plays the tabla, percussion and didgeridoo, is an enthusiast of global
to where they both live in the Western Cape. The partnership is a balanced one, with Ledbetter’s
rhythms and is well known on the local scene for producing
primary role being the composition of music, which
curious sounds and rhythms with his innovative hybrid drum
Skillen describes as ‘lyrical and accessible’. While Skillen,
kit. He specialises in world music with ‘groove and a sense of
though similarly incredibly musically talented, is the
space’. Other than Deep South, he is also cofounder of Tonik,
driving force, ensuring that recording happens and that
Swiss-SA trio A.Spell and Hot Water. He has performed with
albums are promoted. Skillen essentially recorded and
Rodriguez, Johnny Clegg and Freshlyground, to name a few.
produced their first album, A Waiting Land, himself. ‘I
Dave Ledbetter and Ronan Skillen of Deep South. Photograph by Maya Morgan-Skillen
78 / Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016
wouldn’t be able to do it without Dave and he wouldn’t be able to do it without me,’ Skillen adds. The production of Heartland is the result of a coveted collaboration between Deep South and Swedish bassist and producer Björn Meyer. The Bern-based artist has featured on hundreds of recordings – notably with genre-defying record label ECM – since his beginnings with Milla Jovovich. Meyer regularly tours with ECM oud maestro Anouar Brahem and was a member of Zen-funk groove master Nik Bärtsch’s band, Ronin, also represented by the prestigious label. He has also produced all of the albums for his Swedish trio Bazar Blå. Meyer and Skillen became friendly after meeting at workshops in Switzerland due to an arts residency that Skillen was awarded by Pro Helvetia (the Swiss Arts Council) a few years ago. They met subsequently on Skillen’s trips to Switzerland to work on other collaborations he had formed. The two began to talk more seriously about working
Heartland comprises ten original pieces that feature
together and Skillen gave Meyer A Waiting Land to listen
some of Europe’s most versatile and innovative artists: Jan
to, ‘which he liked, thankfully,’ he laughs. He then agreed
Galega Brönnimann (bass clarinet) of Brinkmanship, who’s
to Skillen’s idea that Deep South record their next album in
played with artists such as Nils Petter Molvaer and Aly
Switzerland, produced by Meyer.
Keita; Samuel Würgler (trumpet and flugelhorn) of Balkan
The recording process was funded by Pro Helvetia,
band Traktorchester; and Fredrik Gille (riq, frame drum and
another sign to Skillen that they were on the right track.
percussion), a specialist in flamenco and Arabic percussion
‘Björn is one of those people who has immense history and
who has performed with Andreas Vollenweider, among others.
is sensitive to the process of capturing the essence in an
To bring Heartland’s compositions to life at the South
uncorrupted way. I am very privileged to have worked with
African launch, Deep South will be joined by Joburg-based
a man like him, given his musical
experimental trumpet player Marcus Wyatt and Shaun
history. I felt very supported
Johannes, Deep South’s regular bassist.
throughout the whole process and
Listeners can expect an impeccable performance of
needed to worry about nothing in
acoustic instrumental music, set in a landscape of sound with
terms of music and knew what
plenty of space, funky grooves and the odd ghost note.
was being recorded was as good as we could do it.’
For more info go to www.deepsouthmusic.co.za or find the album on Bandcamp at http://deepsouth1.bandcamp.com. CF
Ronan Skillen and Dave Ledbetter of Deep South. Photograph by Maya Morgan-Skillen
Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016 / 79
Carols with St Paul’s Cathedral Choir The St Paul’s Cathedral Choir is making an early bid for a Christmas No.1 hit, with festive favourite ‘Carol of the Bells’.
St Paul’s Cathedral Choir Photographs by Decca/ Graham Lacdao
T
he song, famously used in feel-good film
There has been a song school associated with Saint Paul’s
Home Alone, is taken from the choir’s
Cathedral since its foundation in 604. The Choir School for
forthcoming album of carols, which marks
boy choristers dates from about 1123, when eight boys in
its first recording on the Decca label. The
need of alms were provided with a home and education in
exciting new album, in partnership with
return for singing the Cathedral Office. Gradually two schools
Decca and Classic FM, features some of the nation’s
emerged, the Choir School and the Grammar School. For
favourite carols including ‘Silent Night’ and ‘Once in
many years they co-existed happily, the choristers graduating
Royal David’s City’ alongside new works such as Philip
to the Grammar school to finish their education, until the
Stopford’s touching setting of the 16th Century ‘Lully
latter was re-founded by Dean Colet in 1511 and became Saint
Lulla Lullay’, and the world premiere recording of Graham
Paul’s School. (It is now in Barnes and has only a tenuous
Jordan Ellis’s captivating ‘There Is No Rose’.
connection with the Cathedral.)
St Paul’s Cathedral helped revive Christmas Carols in
In the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries
the 19th Century when its organist – Sir John Stainer –
the school was more famous for its acting than its
published Christmas Carols, New and Old, establishing lots of
singing. The children of St Paul’s had their own resident
the favourites still loved today. Stainer raised the standard of
playwrights, performed regularly at Greenwich Palace
choral singing at the Cathedral to new heights.
before Queen Elizabeth I and incurred the wrath of
80 / Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016
Shakespeare and his professional company just over the river. (In Hamlet he rails against the company of ‘little eyases’ who are roundly applauded for their histrionic efforts). After the Restoration the choristers enjoyed a somewhat chequered history, but a vigorous campaign by the redoubtable Maria Hackett lasting some sixty years led to the re-establishment of a purpose-built school in Carter Lane to the south-west of the Cathedral in 1874. There it remained until the 1960s, when, under threat of demolition due to a road-widening scheme, it moved to its present site in New Change.
St Paul’s Cathedral Choir now comprises 28 boy choristers
The Choristers attend the Cathedral School as boarders
and twelve men – the ‘Vicars Choral’ – and is directed by
and are looked after by the Headmaster and his staff. Boys
Andrew Carwood. Auditions are held throughout the year.
start with a probationary year when they learn about the
Boys start with a probationary year when they learn about
routines and repertoire of the Choir and are given a firm
the routines and repertoire of the Choir and are given a
grounding in vocal technique and sight reading. Once they
firm grounding in vocal technique and sight reading. Once
have become full choristers they take a full part in the
they have become full choristers they take a full part in the
liturgical life of the Cathedral.
liturgical life of the Cathedral. St Paul’s Choristers sing Choral
Having been performing in London’s iconic venue for
Evensong most days during term time as well as Choral
nearly 900 years, the choir will be competing for this year’s
Mattins and Sung Eucharist on Sunday morning. They also
coveted Christmas No.1 spot against relative newcomers, as
take part in special services, broadcasts, concerts and tours
they go head to head with the likes of Adele and this year’s X
and study the piano and one other instrument alongside their
Factor winner. ‘This is music for Christmas, and you can’t help
vocal tuition.
but love the Christmas season and the music associated with
Within this framework the boys carry out normal school
it’, says Carwood, Director of Music at St Paul’s Cathedral.
activities, both academic and sporting, and often go on to
‘This is our first solo recording with Decca – so it has only
win major scholarships to schools throughout the country.
taken us nine centuries to get to that state!’ CF
Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016 / 81
AVAILABLE NOW ON CD, DIGITAL PLATFORMS AND LIMITED EDITION VINYL
(including unique download code).
Sony Classical Announces Exclusive Agreement with Soprano Pretty Yende
WIN! WIN! WIN! Creative Feel readers stand a chance to each win a signed copy of Zonke’s Work of HeArt. To enter, simply send your name, contact details and the answer to the question below to Creative Feel/Zonke giveaway, PO Box 3670, Randburg, 2125, or via fax to 011 787 8204, or via email to competitions@creativefeel.co.za. Please note that only one entry per person will be accepted. Closing date: 31 January 2016 Question: What is the name of Zonke’s latest release?
S
ony Classical is proud to announce an exclusive long-term agreement with Pretty Yende, the sensational young South African soprano whose career has risen to the top of the opera world with
unparalleled speed within the past few years. Yende’s debut album on Sony Classical, scheduled for autumn 2016, will celebrate some of the milestones of her extraordinary musical journey. In addition to the
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much-loved Lakmé duet which first opened her heart to the world of opera, there will be arias from Le comte Ory in which she shot to international attention at the Met. She will also perform arias from other roles in which she
New Voice IV. Curated by Tammy Langtry and Lunga Kumalo. 26 Nov 2015 – 15 Dec 2015 and 12 Jan 2016 – 28 Jan 2016.
continues to dazzle audiences and critics: Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor), Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia), and Elvira (I puritani). She will perform the latter opera at Zurich opera in June 2016. Yende has already appeared at opera houses in Berlin,
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New York, Los Angeles, Barcelona and Hamburg, and has frequently sung at La Scala. Forthcoming seasons will also see her appear at the Bayerische Staatsoper Munich, the Royal Opera House in London, and the Opéra National de Paris. CF
Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016 / 83
Books Recently published
Bravo! Food from the SA stars of stage By Distell Publisher: Human & Rousseau, an imprint of NB Publishers ISBN: 9780798170116 A cookbook with a difference. South Africa’s most-loved and best actors, those who have won a Fleur du Cap Theatre Award, lift the lid on their favourite recipes. Among the actors are: Alan Committie, James Borthwick, Luke Ellenbogen, Kate Normington, Tim Plewman, Janice Honeyman, Fiona Ramsey, and Janni Younge. The stars’ recipes range from simple (a ham and cheese sandwich or a delicious macaroni and cheese) to advanced (oxtail and roast venison). Some of the recipes also have an Eastern flavour. You can plan a full meal with this book – perhaps with Carel Nel’s creamy mussels as an appetiser, followed by Geoffrey Hyland’s shepherd’s pie and Penelope Youngleson’s coleslaw, and then Philip Dikotla’s trifle for dessert.
SuzelleDIY The Book By Julia Anastasopoulos and Ari Kruger Publisher: Human & Rousseau, an imprint of NB Publishers ISBN: 9780798170093
In My Kitchen By Herman Lensing Publisher: Human & Rousseau, an imprint of NB Publishers ISBN: 9780798168335
More Allergen-Free Recipes for the Whole Family By Sylvie Hurford Publisher: Human & Rousseau, an imprint of NB Publishers ISBN: 9780798168304
This user-friendly cookbook is
The perfect book for helping to prevent
divided into ten chapters according
and manage allergies in children. Sylvie
The Book gives DIY a humorous
to the ingredients which influence
Hurford shows how you can delay
twist. Julia Anastasopoulos, aka
Lensing’s life and cooking. Lensing
children’s exposure to allergens, allowing
Suzelle, shows us how to deal with
uses quality ingredients and
the body to mature enough to process the
household chores, maintain your
innovative methods to reduce
agents of incipient allergy. Informative
car, live green, make braai day a day
time spent in the kitchen. A food
and beautiful, this book appeals to all
to remember and how to minimise
personality to take note of.
senses. Yummy recipes such as celebration
the hours you spend in the kitchen.
Lensing has been food editor
cake, carob muffins and much more will
Marianne, her friend, joins her and
of Sarie since 2009, and was
assist mothers to treat their young. Also
takes a special interest in our furry
the youngest food editor ever
included are chapters for sleep time and
friends. The DIY diva also shares
appointed by Sarie. Lensing’s
for the ill. Sylvie Hurford has a wide print
her DIY and beauty secrets, while
enthusiasm, knowledge and
and social media following, as well as
also entertaining us with the best
scrumptious recipes turned the
prominence as a TV personality, inspiring
recipes from her kitchen. DIY?
food section into one of the most
women to break the mould by promoting
Because anybody can.
popular in the magazine.
liberating new ideas and lateral views.
84 / Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016
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Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016 / 85
Anne-Sophie Mutter finds a ‘new home’ The German violin virtuoso AnneSophie Mutter takes on classical club culture in her latest Deutsche Grammophon release, The Club Album: Live from the Yellow Lounge.
E
punch. An audience which, sad to say, I’ll never find in the Philharmonie. So I thought to myself: OK, if there’s a bunch of people who’ll never go to the Philharmonie, I’ll have to go to them. I’ll “stalk” them, so to speak, and go to their club.’ Anne-Sophie Mutter was accompanied on both club appearances by pianist Lambert Orkis and her own virtuosi, young scholarship holders from her foundation for up-and-coming talent: ‘They’re an integral part of my life. They come from Austria, Poland, the United States,
arlier this year, Anne-Sophie Mutter challenged
South Korea, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Russia
her ‘Lord Dunn-Raven’ Stradivarius by playing in a
and Spain, and they have ideas as to what music can
jam-packed Berlin nightclub, The Neue Heimat, or
accomplish in society.’
‘new home’. ‘It was extremely hot in the club,’ says
‘I looked at a lot of repertoire... The result was a
Mutter, ‘and in the long run it put a big strain on the varnish.
kaleidoscopic view of the variety of music history, and the
So to prevent the original varnish from becoming damaged
variety of music for the violin’, she says. And so the Yellow
we applied a thin protective coat to the Strad where it
Lounge programme came about, ranging from the Baroque
touches my bare skin. But any instrument over 300 years old
to the present day, and including works from Vivaldi’s Four
is bound to show signs of wear and tear.’
Seasons and Bach-Gounod’s Ave Maria, to the Jamaican
But what’s a Strad, let alone a world famous violinist, doing in a Berlin nightclub? Anne-Sophie Mutter has long felt that her genre, so called ‘classical music’, must explore new venues and fresh strategies lest it be mothballed as yesterday’s art. ‘I wanted to put the audience in touch with the music I love and believe in, music that packs such a huge emotional
86 / Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016
Rumba, Gershwin’s Preludes, Aaron Copland’s country fiddling and the title theme from Schindler’s List. The audience response was euphoric. And the Strad? It was sent for maintenance work at what its owner calls ‘The Spa’, where it was tidied up to meet the challenges of new centuries and exciting new venues. CF
CDs
The latest releases to suit all tastes
The Age of Puccini Jonas Kaufmann Decca 4788746 On 14 April 2010, Jonas Kaufmann became the first German tenor to sing Cavaradossi at the Metropolitan Opera in 103 years. He shaped Puccini’s music with exceptional elegance, balancing the character’s essential revolutionary fervour with a heart-stopping tenderness. Critics and audiences received the portrayal ecstatically. In preparing this music by Puccini and his contemporaries (including Puccini’s and Mascagni’s teacher of composition, Ponchielli), Kaufmann was gratified that his fluent Italian enabled him to ‘understand double meanings and discover the secrets between the written lines.’ Freedom from technical worries allowed Kaufmann to concentrate exclusively on communication, ‘with the text leading me automatically into the emotional circumstances of each piece.’ Kaufmann recognises that most of these roles lack the dramatic complexities of his usual opera repertoire. “In verismo it’s just pure soul and passion, but that’s what I love so much about it! These arias are charged with emotions that can move you to tears … the most enthusiastic music — the most ecstatic music — is verismo.”
Caroline Leisegang Øyeblikk First Date Collective One of the youngest classical composers
Fauré & Strauss Violin Sonatas Itzhak Perlman & Emanuel Ax Deutsche Grammophon 48117741
Cinema Andrea Bocelli Universal Music 4811885
in South African history, Leisegang has
Itzhak Perlman and Emanuel Ax, each
International superstar Andrea Bocelli
raised the bar on classical composition
winners of multiple GRAMMY Awards
returns with his new eagerly awaited
not only in her home country, but in
among a myriad of other honours, have
album Cinema. Cinema celebrates the
the rest of the musical world with her
teamed up for the exquisite album of
greatest movie songs of all time and
stunning, world-class debut release
Romantic-era masterpieces: the Violin
reunites a team of musical legends
Øyeblikk. Obsessed with her Norwegian
Sonata No. 1 in A Major by Gabriel
including David Foster, Humberto
ancestry, Leisegang was interested in the
Fauré and the lone Violin Sonata by
Gatica and Tony Renis who worked
repetition of the Norwegian language
Richard Strauss. In addition to this
together on the trailblazing success of
which mirrors the repetition of musical
being Perlman’s first new solo recording
Bocelli’s Amore. Cinema marks Bocelli’s
form in her work. Øyeblikk translates
in over a decade, it is also the first
first new studio recording in two years.
to ‘Moments’ and is emblematic of her
recording by this violin-piano team after
Bocelli said of Cinema: ‘With the album
state of mind when writing the pieces
years of performing together on stage,
Cinema, I’m fulfilling a wish that I’ve
in either her London or Johannesburg
and the first time Perlman has recorded
harboured for decades. I’ve never made
home. Inspired in large by her battle with
these two major sonatas. Describing
a secret of my dream of bringing to
the weather of the cities she travelled
the Fauré sonata, Perlman says:
life a recording project associated with
and the doldrum she found herself in,
‘For a violinist, its phrases are a real
soundtracks, as I truly believe that it’s
this series of ‘moments’ came to being.
satisfaction to play, as they’re so rich.’
an exceptional artistic treasure trove.’
Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016 / 87
Carol Director: Todd Haynes Starring: Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Kyle Chandler, Jake Lacy, Sarah Paulson In an adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s seminal novel, The Price of Salt, Carol follows two women from very different backgrounds who find themselves in an unexpected love affair in 1950s New York. As conventional norms of the time challenge their undeniable attraction, an honest story emerges to reveal the resilience of the heart in the face of change. A young woman in her 20s, Therese Belivet (Rooney Mara), is a clerk working in a Manhattan department store and dreaming of a more fulfilling life when she meets Carol (Cate Blanchett), an alluring woman trapped in a loveless, convenient marriage. As an immediate connection sparks between them, the innocence of their first encounter dims and their connection deepens. While Carol breaks free from the confines of marriage, her husband (Kyle Chandler) begins to question her competence as a mother as her involvement with Therese and close relationship with her best friend Abby (Sarah Paulson) come to light.
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AT CINEMAS 16 DECEMBER Creative Feel / December 2015 / January 2016 / 89
encore forget that world-class role models are in our backyards. One of my
favourite books, which I read over and over again, is The Dream Giver by
Bruce Wilkinson. The one take out from this book is that you may be born ordinary but you don’t have to stay/remain ordinary – you can become anything you want to become. Your dream must beat in your heart so much that you want to translate it into a tangible living product. What is in your car’s CD player? Frank Sinatra and Friends featuring the likes of Luther Vandross, Barbra Streisand, Natalie Cole, Anita Baker and Bono.
I am also listening to The Imagine Project by Herbie Hancock. This is the most creative piece of music I have heard in the last ten years. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? Creating more time for myself (to recharge) and those closest and dearest to me.
Rosemary Mangope is the Chief Executive Officer of the National Arts Council and is responsible for strategy development and implementation and overall running
How have the arts industries in South Africa changed over the last ten years? The shift has been seismic in that the arts have ceased to be ego driven. If you are ego driven you won’t last long in the industry. The
of the organisation. Mangope has a track record in
change has been from being egotistic to being collaborative. There is
establishing multipurpose community art centres. This
no longer a pure art form – art is multidisciplinary.
gave her an opportunity to highlight the transformative power of the arts and introduced the creativity and discipline required to be successful in the arts. ‘It gives
Name one thing you think would improve the arts and culture industry in South Africa. More innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship.
me great fulfilment to see that this kind of model is being replicated and has the ability to contribute to shaping and moulding a human being,’ says Mangope.
What is your most treasured possession? Being of sound spirit, mind and body – without these I can’t do anything. What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Name three artworks that you love and why.
Poverty and lack of education.
Visual Arts: Mary Sibande. Her work is bold, promotes women as powerhouses regardless of the origin of their circumstances, is
What is it that makes you happy?
colourful and visually appealing;
Living my dream – I am at my happiest when I do my work.
Music: Frank Sinatra. His music defies age, it’s timeless, it has gone through so many iterations and permutations and can still be adapted
Describe a defining moment in your life.
for future audiences;
Holding my first born child in my hands.
Dance – Alfred Hinkel and PJ Sabbagha. Their ability to reinvent themselves and in the process contribute to artistic development in
What projects will you be busy with during 2016 and into 2017?
neglected areas and still showcase world-class talent
We look forward to the 17th ASSITEJ World Congress and Performing Arts Festival for Children and Young People which takes place in Cape Town
Name one artist you would love to meet.
in May 2017. This will be the first ASSITEJ World Congress to be held on
Quincy Jones – he’s been such an integral game changer in the lives of
the African continent since the inception of ASSITEJ in 1965. The event
artists all over the world, including South African artists.
will be conceptualised not only as a South African event, but also as a truly African one, focusing on what the continent has to offer in terms of
What are you reading at the moment?
theatre for young audiences. The NAC will have an important role to play
I am currently reading Fethullah Gülen’s Toward a Global Civilization
as we showcase what this country has to offer to the world.
of Love and Tolerance, a book that speaks on a new world order and working towards a global civilisation. The book promotes understanding,
Name one goal you would like to achieve in the next twelve months.
acceptance and tolerance. I just recently finished Felicia Mabuza-Suttle’s
Rolling out of the regional arts education conferences and utilising
book Live Your Dream and this book reminded me that very often we
this as a tool to getting Africa to speak in one voice.
Our DNA tells us that we are all 99.9% alike because we all share one common ancestor. Dig deeper and learn more at the ALL FROM ONE Exhibition.
Our DNA tells us that we are all 99.9% alike because we all share one common ancestor. Dig deeper and learn more at the ALL FROM ONE Exhibition.
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