After a two year hiatus due to national lockdown restrictions, Afrofusion dance company Moving into Dance (MID) returns to the Joburg Theatre stage for three performances only from April 29 to May 1.
The new season of “Ingress” comprises three compelling dance pieces in honour of the dancers around the world and their ability to transform and survive during these unprecedented times.
The show features Oscar Buthelezi’s “Road”; “Fight, flight, feathers & f**kers” by Sunnyboy Motau and Rachel Erdos; and “Despot” by Lesego Dihemo.
“Road” explores the journey and routes travelled towards enlightenment and life learnings through an intimate duet performed by Buthelezi and Sbusiso Gumede.
“Fight, flight, feathers & f**kers” explores politics, psychology, and the physicality of masculinity.
“It delves into the fight or flight principle relating this theory to modern-day male society, interrogating cultural differences in male reactions to varying life situations where their masculinity is either challenged or validated.
“Despot” is a play on the fight to stand up for oneself or to churn the waters. The question is, at what point do you step up and take back your power?
Commenting on the show, Nadia Virasamy, the CEO of MID, said: “The production is called ‘Ingress’, which means the right to access.
“This production is a celebration of the right to access the theatre again and be allowed access to work after all the restrictions of the state of emergency due to Covid 19.
“This triple bill is made up of the multi-international winning duet, ‘Road’ by Oscar Buthelezi, where he pays homage to his father who raised him as a single parent.
“Fight, flight feathers and f**kers is filled with intense stage magic, which is the signature choreographic style of Sunnyboy Motau alongside Rachel Erdos, who interrogates the notion of masculinity and accentuates the violence and struggle for power that it brings.
“This seems like an apt juxtaposition against the backdrop of ‘Road’.
“Finally, ‘Despot’ is the debut work of our first female-driven choreography in three years. Lesego Dihemo neatly packages all of the above in the theme of taking back the power we have surrendered.
“This could be seen from the premise of Covid-19 and the dehumanising effect it has had and how we are now ready to take control once again.”
Virasamy also urged South Africans to go back to the theatre to keep the arts alive.
“We have been creatively starved for too long. Our art forms have been reduced to television shows through online streaming platforms.
“We need the magic of live theatre, and what better way to experience this but with exciting dance works that speak to real South African issues and forge paths to new and interesting dialogue.
“Dance is more than movement. It is a social narrative in motion. It feeds your curiosity, but it also lets you take out what you can and want through critical thought and intellectual decoding.
“This is what good dance does, and this is what Moving into Dance promises of Ingress.”
According their website, MID was born during the turbulence of 1978 apartheid South Africa. Founded by Sylvia “Magogo” Glasser, it was an artistic response to the destructive policy of separateness.
The vision was to draw on the creative capacity of the human spirit to connect, enliven, and transcend.
“Ingress” is set to take place from Friday, April 29, to Sunday, May 1, at The Lesedi, The Joburg Theatre. Tickets are available for R80 at Webtickets.