The first 2020 project to be supported by the newly launched Sustaining Theatre and Dance (STAND) Foundation is a partnership with the JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience and the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Centre for Creative Arts.
The initiative known as the STAND Foundation JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience’s Choreographic Mentorship Project, has combined four young choreographers who have already tested their choreographic languages on the JOMBA! platform, with four experienced mentors over a ten-week period, and they are now almost ready to show their new digital dance pieces.
The four young choreographers are Sabelo Cele, Pavishen Paideya, Kaldi Makutike, and Phumlani Mndebele and they have been mentored by Alfred Hinkel, Gregory Maqoma, Sbonakaliso Ndaba and Musa Hlatshwayo, all of whom are celebrated choreographers with numerous awards and decades of experience between them.
The four new screen dance offerings will premiere as a 40 minute package for FREE on Thursday the 3rd December at 7pm via the JOMBA! YouTube Channel, and then will be made available for individual viewing from the links below until the 18th December.
Phumlani Mndebele
Descent Into Death
Phumlani Mndebele – Dancer and Choreographer
Smangaliso Ngwenya – Dancer, Videographer and video editor
Xolisile Bongwane – Music composer and Director
Thulisile Binda – Rehearsal Director
Mentored by Sbonakaliso Ndaba
This screen dance film is inspired by Howard Storm’s novel “My Descent into Death” which captures his near death experience and his experiences in a realm unknown to the living. This film is an engagement with the light, with darkness and all in between.
Pavishen Paideya
Rupa
Choreography: Pavishen Paideya
Cinematography: Pavishen Paideya, Shaneel Sookdeo, Sayen Mirza
Costumes: Pavishen Paideya
Dancers: Kamara Naidoo, Shanay Paideya, Loriksha Hoopdeo, Sayen Mirza. Pavishen Paideya
Mentored by Musa Hlatshwayo
“Rupa” is inspired by ancient Indian sculpture and the Indian customs around the shape and movement of the body. Paideya has a unique ability to celebrate his Diaspora Indian heritage but also to jolt it a little and offer the slightly unexpected.
Kaldi Makutike
Thoughts In My Head
Concept – Kaldi Makutike
Director – Kaldi Makutike
Cast/Performers – Sbusiso Gumede & Kaldi Makutike
DOP – Tshepo 2shot Bilal & Unrehearsed Projects
Music – Unrehearsed Projects
Editor – Unrehearsed Projects
Mentored By Alfred Hinkel
“THOUGHTS IN MY HEAD” is a deeply personal journey into this choreographer’s own mind and the work has come about through the prompting of the mind’s wondering and the conversations we have in our heads. This is a beautiful and painful look at mental illness and depression and the power of dance – and dance making – to be transformative.
Sabelo Cele
Isabelo
(The Upcoming Testament Preaches A Queer Gospel)
Sabelo Cele in Association with EMPYA Creations
Executive Producer – Sabelo Cele
Producer – Magnificent Shabalala and Khwezi Ntanda
Creative Director – Sabelo Cele and Sinakhokonke Nsuntsha
Assistant Director – Magnificent Shabalala and Khwezi Ntanda
Dancer and Choreographer – Sabelo Cele
Movement Trainer/Coordinator – Mhlonishwa Zuma
Cinematography – Magnificent Shabalala
Camera Operator – Khwezi Ntanda
Production Designer – Sabelo Cele
Editor – Magnificent Shabalala and Asanda Khathi
Music Composer – Sabelo Cele
Poetry – Sithabiso Nzala
Mentored by Gregory Maqoma
“Isabelo” offers a provocative ceremony that begins to unhinge the relationship of sexuality to traditional African philosophy. Challenging heteronormativity and the legacies of Christianity in Africa, Cele’s film is sure to provoke a lot of discussion.