Stomping feet, hypnotic movements and world-class skill were on show during the first week of the FNB Dance Umbrella in Johannesburg last week.

The Dance Umbrella, in its 22nd year, is a festival of contemporary dance featuring local and international choreographers, dancers and companies.

Associate Artistic Director of the FNB Dance Umbrella, Gregory Maqoma, said that the Dance Umbrella is an important offering on the South African dance calendar, without which the dance community would be robbed of a platform where ideas and histories are shared with a wider audience. Maqoma recently toured the United States with his piece ‘Beautiful Me’ to very positive reviews.

“The festival has gone beyond just developing talent, it is a festival that is a force for the artists to flourish and to indulge, a platform for the audiences to rejoice and find sentimental value, a festival where quality is perfected,” says Maqoma.

According to Maqoma the programs on offer during the Dance Umbrella focus on three dimensions: to allow the country to witness South African artists who are strongly celebrated outside the country, to nurture promising talent by commissioning new works, and to allow new talent to emerge.

These programs include a series of dance workshops, the Stepping Stones program for youth and community groups, commissioned works and mixed bills for shorter works.

The Gala evening showcased diverse works by Gregory Maqoma, Gary Gordon, Vincent Sekwati Koko Mantsoe, Christopher Kindo and Dada Masilo. These works explored themes such as roundness and rebound kinetics in Maqoma’s ‘Black man…White Balls’, thoughts on motion and stillness in Gordon’s ‘go’, and a search for vulnerability in the opera and ballet character Carmen in Masilo’s ‘Unravelling Carmen’.

This is the tenth year that FNB has sponsored the event and it will also be the last.  Director of the Dance Forum Georgina Thomson says that the Dance Umbrella will continue.

“The Dance Forum Board and other interested parties are making a concerted effort to find new funding partners who can start a new chapter in the South African dance history and ensure that we can continue to host this vital event, ” said Thomson.

Linda Krige