Stanley Peskin
DANCE Umbrella, now under the aegis of FNB Vita, is making its seventh appearance at the Wits Theatre. There will be an extended run of two and a half weeks, during which time the work of 115 choreographers will be featured. The emphasis will fall on different dance idioms in a contemporary style.
The five programmes listed indicate the presence of many familiar choreographers and companies, as well as contributions made by the Johannesburg Youth Ballet and the National School of Arts.
Devotees of Dance Umbrella can look forward to seeing new works by Neville Campbell, Sonje Mayo, and Vincent Mantsoe, among many others. The companies include Moving into Dance, The Pact Dance Company, Arco Dance Theatre and Jazzart.
Robyn Orlin who has returned from Chicago to South Africa and received the first Vita Award for Contemporary Dance in 1984, will present a new work entitled In a Corner a Sky Surrenders … Other titles which suggest a prevailing tone of moral earnestness are Wanderlust, Broken Boundaries, In Search of a Soul: The Blind Man’s Cry and Like Icarus from the Ashes.
The season closes on March 11 with a gala performance of Boyzie Cekwana’s Still and Mantsoe’s Hanano Blessing of the Earth.