Akhona Maqhina, Ciara Barron and Nicola van Straaten (photo: Oscar O'Ryan)
Over the past decade the Baxter Dance Festival has grown from an experimental showcase to the Western Cape’s go-to annual event for what’s new and noteworthy from the local dance fraternity.
With the festival now in its 11th year, all corners of the province have once again been scoured and interesting new ways of bending the human body have been highlighted as part of putting together the festival’s biggest programme to date.
Made up of 78 different choreographed pieces and performed by over 400 dancers, practically every subgenre of dance – from flamenco to performance art – is catered for and given space before the festival ends on Saturday (October 17).
Dancers from SAFDA Youth Dance Company (photo: Oscar O'Ryan)
Following last week’s one-off performances by Die Nuwe Graskoue Trappers – fresh from winning 13 medals at July’s Performing Arts Championship in Los Angeles – and Mamela Nyamza-Nelisiwe Xaba’s The Last Attitude, a ballet-inspired performance piece also featuring members of the Cape Academy of Performing Arts, Monday night saw the main programme properly launched with a selection of seven diverse pieces.
Inspired by the ancient tradition of artistic writing, Mthuthuzeli November’s Calligraphy was performed first and focuses on the impact the practice has had on South Korean languages. The rise of November, a former Dance for All cadet who came up through the ranks under Fiona Sargeant, from soccer-loving, hip hop dancing Ashton youth to international dancer and choreographer has been a joy to follow over the years.
Performed by members of the Cape Dance Company, there is both growth and potential in seeing the young dance-maker have his cast navigate around the form, execution and artistic frequency required for perfecting the art of calligraphy. Moving away from simply aiming to mimic respective letters or words, Calligraphy instead plays around with form, structure and other trends in contemporary dance.
Dancers from Cape Dance Company (photo: Oscar O'Ryan)
Described as “an abstract expression of the highs and lows of life”, the Cafda Youth Dance Company 34/18 was up next with Douglas Griffiths’s Unspoken. One of my favourite aspects of this piece, which featured an all-woman cast, was its fluidity and movement – from the way the dancers’ hair was styled to the way they flopped and arched their limbs from one spot to another.
Also made up of a group of formidable female dancers, Adele Blank’s Elements of Woman draws on the four ancient elements – earth, fire, wind and water – as a way for modern women to access various forms of power within themselves. Executed with the help of several costume changes as well as a video backdrop, the piece is considered the fourth chapter in the company’s series, I Have the Right Too …
Arriving in Cape Town after debuting at this year’s National Arts Festival (NAF) in Grahamstown, the Underground Dance Theatre’s Cypher was also performed as part of Monday night’s programme. Originally staged as a double-bill with Mode – the company’s commissioned piece for last year’s Baxter Dance Festival – this is the third time I’ve seen this highly thought-provoking work.
Featuring two new dancers alongside original cast member Nicola van Straaten – Ciara Barron and Akhona Maqhina replace Julia de Rosenwerth and Odille de Villiers – there is both newness and familiarity in the new format. Inspired by numbers and our instinctive need to assign emotion to that which is perfectly rational, Cilna Katzke and Kristina Johnstone’s choreography was assembled through playing all kinds of games (including Sudoku) together.
Lucile Hendricks and Mishkaah Medell (photo: Oscar O'Ryan)
Arranged by Heno Janse van Rensburg, the production plays out to songs such as Max Richter's “A Sudden Manhattan Of The Mind” and “When The Northern Lights /Jasper And Louise”, The Andrews Sisters' "Rum and Coca Cola" as well as Meredith Monk's "Masks". The result is a dark, playful meditation on matters such as the tension between order and disorder, harmony and anarchy and the logical/absurd found all around us.
The final pieces making up Monday night’s main programme were Eyes Wide Open, Abeedah Medell and the EOAN Group Theatre Company’s exploration/discovery of “the self”; Louise Coetzer’s These Shadows, showcasing the talents of the Dance for All Inspirations Youth Company; as well as Tercia Amsterdam’s Alabaster Box, based on the biblical story about the woman who anoints Jesus with her most valued perfume.
A second selection of main programme performances can be seen on Wednesday and Thursday night, with the final batch performed together on Friday and Saturday night. In addition, Saturday’s off-main and fringe programmes should be perfect fare for those interested in seeing the art form at community and school level, with more than one surprise no doubt bound to pop up.
For the Baxter Dance Festival programme, or to book tickets, see www.baxter.co.za and www.facebook.com/BaxterTheatre or follow @BaxterTheatre on Twitter.
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