Stunning Contemporary Dance at JOMBA! Opening Night

BY: .

UKZN’s Sneddon Theatre was packed to capacity for the opening night of the 17^th JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience presented by the Centre for Creative Arts (CCA) within the College of Humanities.

JOMBA!, one of the few remaining contemporary dance festivals in South Africa, features performances over two weeks, and also offers dancers, dance-makers and the interested public an opportunity to engage in workshops, discussions and master classes.

JOMBA! 2015 also continues its legacy of culturally connecting South Africa to the rest of the African continent and is delighted to feature exceptional contemporary dance works this year from West Africa.  

On offer for the opening night was the world premiere of a duet by veteran Lagos-based dancer Adedayo Liadi collaborating with Nigeria’s next generation of dance makers, Qudus Onikeku. This was followed by Faustin Linyekula’s haunting solo dance theatre work that illustrates the postcolonial politics of the DRC.  

Artistic Director and Performing Arts Lecturer at the University, Ms Lliane Loots, gave the keynote address that reflected on the inception and prolonged success of JOMBA!

‘To be honest, I was grateful that we even had that first edition and then things just sort of kept on flowing. I have been able to work with amazing people beside me who have fought to keep the Festival alive. I think of Adriaan Donker and Peter Rorvik, for example.’

‘It is also unusual for a university to continue to fight for space to keep this alive and for that I am now grateful to DVC and Head of the College of Humanities, Professor Cheryl Potgieter. For something like this to survive, it also has to reach a place in the imagination of the theatre audiences and for 17 years, we have had almost full houses - this is what keeps us coming back,’ said Loots.

However, Loots also emphasised the importance of the Arts in the country saying: ‘I want to stand here tonight with all of you to claim back the theatre and performance spaces of our city and remind the political elites and the social rule makers, the bureaucrats with the fat purses, that art – when it is most critical, when it is most subversive and most difficult to engage, when it shouts and screams, and when it quite simply talks back - is nation building!’

Loots expressed her gratitude to everyone, including funders, who made the festival come alive and succeed and encouraged the public to support the Arts.

‘Sometimes the biggest act of support for this re-birth of Africa’s critical arts is to simply buy a ticket to the show. And if you have not bought one yet, there are a few more nights for you to do so! And we thank all of you for continuing the dialogue around art, dance and community – for quite simply, being here. What will history make of tonight?’

JOMBA! runs until September 6 at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre on UKZN’s Durban campus. Tickets are priced between R45 and R60 and are available at Computicket or at the venue an hour before the show. For more information and a full downloadable programme, visit www.cca.ukzn.ac.za

Melissa Mungroo