Over the Border: Moving Through Borders, Breaking Through Bodies is a contemporary dance performance that explores the multifaceted concept of borders – not just as geopolitical lines but as embodied, linguistic, psychological, and historical constructs. The piece interrogates how African bodies are affected by colonial legacies, racialized violence, xenophobia, and systemic displacement. Drawing inspiration from Gloria Anzaldua’s Borderlands/La Frontera, the performance delves into the “in-between” spaces where identity is fluid and constantly negotiated. Through contemporary movement, improvisation, and indigenous practices like breathwork and rhythm, the dance becomes both a ritual and a form of resistance. The body is portrayed as a map marked by historical scars yet filled with possibilities for freedom. Over the Border aims not just to cross borders but to dissolve them, using movement as a tool for reclamation, connection, and collective healing. In an era where borders fragment humanity, the performance calls for a return to the body as a place of remembering, resisting, and reimagining the world.
Kwanele Finch Thusi is a Johannesburg-based multidisciplinary artist, choreographer, designer, and educator whose work bridges fashion, dance, and storytelling to empower African and queer identities. As the founder of Finch Wear and director of Kwonele Thusi & Associates Ltd, Thusi creates platforms that uplift emerging talent across the continent and the world. His choreography for Netflix’s JIVA! reached audiences in 195 countries, where he served as head choreographer and story developer. He is also the Casting Director for SHAKA ilembe S1 and has been cost for SABC 2’s Muvhango in a new dance role (May, 2025). Thusi’s performances and workshops have spanned Sweden, Mozambique, Ghana, Kenya, and Namibia, focusing on themes of African queer identity and diaspora. As a Thami Mnyele Award Winner and former Mr Africa International, Thusi is also the author of Psychology of a Post Pandemic Mind and Man Escaped, literary works that explore healing, identity, and the human body.