Cape Town’s leading contemporary dance company, Jazzart Dance Theatre, will present a new and exciting triple bill production this Heritage month, entitled: ‘SURVIVE’. The production will showcase the creative talents of Jazzart’s newly appointed Artistic Director, Dane Hurst, alongside a debut work from Nathan Bartman and Ciara Baldwin who recently formed the company ‘Manacan’, as well as the award-winning team of Shaun Oelf and Grant Van Ster of the ‘Figure of 8 Dance Collective’. The performances will take place at Artscape Theatre, Cape Town from 22 – 24 September 2022.
‘Survive’ takes a creative look at, and interpretation of the nuances associated with ‘Survival,’ and what that means for us today, as we strive towards a progressive and sustainable future. The billing embraces three separate works – ‘Wasteland’, ‘In Body as One’ and ‘Survive’ – and explore the nature of our humanity, our positive and destructive relationships with each other, and the footprint and legacy we leave within the natural world that we exist in.
The production promises to be an entertaining, yet hard-hitting and thought-provoking evening of dance, created by an acclaimed team of choreographers and as performed by a young and ambitious company of dancers.
Dane Hurst’s creation, ‘Wasteland’, looks at our insatiable appetite and fascination with clothing and fashion and society’s preoccupation with the acquisition of consumer goods. The reality of this way of life contributes to the unconscious and unseen pollution of the environment, simply by being an everyday human being conforming to the usual methods and standards of modern living. The fashion industry, after food production, is rated as the 3rd highest polluter in the world and contributes to differing forms of environmental pollution, including water, air, and soil degradation. ‘Wasteland’ as a dance, reflects on this reality and holds a mirror up to us as a society to see the impact of our daily way of life.
Oelf and Van Ster’s work, ‘In Body as One,’ previewed as part of the Jazzart’s production of ‘Woven’ at the Artscape Theatre in June 2022 but will now have its full premiere as part of this triple bill. It is a slick, highly polished, and accomplished choreographic work accompanied by an atmospheric and hypnotic film projection. ‘In Body as One’ showcases the artistry and technical abilities of the dancers, whilst articulating their innate ability to work together as a team and achieving unique individual triumphs throughout the work.
The production will be a professional debut for the newly formed company of eight dancers (Abigail Overmeyer, Chesney Stanfield, Emile Petersen, Keagan Damons, Lisakhanya Nongqongqo, Phikolwethu Luke, Rian Jansen and Savannah Petrus) who have been selected from the recent graduates of the Jazzart Dance Theatre training programme 2022.
Survival of the fittest or thriving for all? Bartman and Baldwin of Manacan explore the mindset of what it takes to survive juxtaposed with the eternal question of what is peace? Is it enough to just survive, does that mean the moment we pass on from this world is the only moment we truly feel peace? Maybe it’s time for us to work together to try and change the narrative from survive to thrive…
‘SURVIVE’ will have its premiere at the Artscape Theatre on Thursday 22 September and will run until Saturday 24 September 2022. Performances will take place at 20:00 each evening, with a matinee performance on 24 September at 15:00.
Date: 22-24 September 2022
Tickets: R120 available from Computicket.com
Venue: Artscape Theatre
