Jill Waterman DANCE
The Dance Factory in the Newtown Cultural Precinct, Johannesburg, is a buzzing dance centre for 26 aspiring young artists.
The December vacation has been a special dance training time for this youth group, as they have been working daily on a contemporary dance production of Oliver. The dance theatre work is based on the famous Charles Dickens story of Oliver Twist. Marie Brolin-Tani, a Danish choreographer, is working with the group, training and recreating Oliver for these talented dancers from Soweto and Alexandra. Brolin-Tani has already successfully staged this work in Arhus with her own MBT Youth Company. In making the South African version she is assisted by former State Theatre Dance Company artist, Melody Putu.
In 1998 Putu worked with Brolin-Tani in her well-remembered production of King Lear for the State Theatre Dance Company. This new partnership is a deepening of relationships established during the Shuttle ’99 cultural exchanges between South Africa and the Nordic countries.
These local and international collaborations help to expose young dancers in training and established professionals like Putu to different job opportunities in the worldwide dance industry.
With the rapidly changing dance funding scene in South Africa job networks on a local, national and international level are vital for dance career?sustainability and development.
Brolin-Tani is accompanied by her husband, Hans-Olof Tani, who is designing the sets and lighting for Oliver. The duo have worked successfully on many productions at their MBT Dance Theatre in Denmark and abroad in Hungary, Poland, Scandinavia and the Baltic countries.?
The youth dance group working on Oliver range in age from seven to 17.
The production offers an interfacing of students who attend classes with Soweto Dance Theatre, Moving into Dance, the National School of the Arts and resident Dance Factory members. The students are dedicated and many of them have taken part in theAll Africa Games opening ceremony, The Nutcracker and in Dance Factory Arts Alive performances.
They are an enthusiastic group of performers who Brolin-Tani describes as being passionate about their dance, brave and willing to take risks. When talking about the Dance Factory she says that it is a “fantastic place for children”. Their efforts deserve to be supported.
Funding for this venture has come from the Danish Centre for Culture and Development, Standard Bank of South Africa, Vita Promotions and the Johannesburg Metropolitan Council. Oliver is a production danced by children for children so come and get inspired by the energy of this dedicated group of young artists. Oliver will be presented at the Dance Factory from January 12 to 14 at 7pm, with matinee performances on January 13 and 14 at 3pm. Tickets can be obtained at Ticketweb at www.ticketweb.co.za or the Dance Factory on Tel: (011) 833?1347