Georgina Thomson is the artistic director of the Dance Umbrella festival of contemporary dance. The Mail & Guardian caught up with her at the end of this year’s festival, to find out how audiences responded to the variety of dance on offer, and what the future holds for contemporary dance in South Africa.
How has the festival gone? How have the audiences been, compared to previous audiences? Is there a growing dance audience?
There’s definitely a growing audiences. But the people who attend the Dance Umbrella don’t book in advance, and it’s a stressful thing, every night, wondering if there will be audiences or not. This year I didn’t do what I usually do, which is invite people to come to the festival at a discounted rate just to ensure that the dancers have an audience, and I was astounded at the number of people from the general public who came.
Did you do anything differently as far as publicity goes?
This year we focused far more on the internet which I think played a big role. The print media is doing less and less arts and culture. So we decided to do more on the internet, via Facebook and things like that.
Was there an obvious favourite show? Or were there trends as to what the audience liked?
That’s a difficult one to answer. I know a lot of people liked Qudus Onikeku from Nigeria, and then there was a triple bill at [the University of the Witwatersrand] that people really enjoyed. I think people are just interested to see what is going on. I’m sure that if we had had a big superstar, it would have garnered interest. But the focus was South Africa, and young work.
In the past there has been a more international feel to the Dance Umbrella. Was it a conscious decision to focus on local work and younger companies this year?
The focus has always been South Africa. That’s where we start. International companies were fewer this year because of the unsure funding situation. We weren’t sure about how much funding we would get, and when, until the end of last year, and with international companies you need to start liaising a year in advance.
As artistic director, how did you go about deciding which companies would be invited?
I watch work all the time, all over the place. So it’s a case of me seeing what people are doing and where they are and what space they are in with their work. I also try to commission different people every year, keeping it as democratic as possible and giving different people a chance every year. There are some more established artists like Vincent Manstsoe and Boyzie Cekwana, who work mostly internationally, and I try to bring them in once every two years or so, because it’s important for us to see what they are doing, and for the young dance fraternity here to see what they are doing.
Is there any formal facilitation of dialogues between dancers and choreographers, to allow them to share their ideas, or is it a case of them just watching each others work?
They watch each others work. We’ve debated that in the past, but this year funding was limited so we had to be quite tight in what we decided to do.
What have you learnt from this festival that you will take into the next year? For example, the Remix dance company received an excellent response and based on that, will you consider including integrated dance more regularly in the future?
Definitely. We are at a point of restructuring at the moment. We are trying to finalise new partners, funding and trying to create long term partnerships. The festival will definitely change in the next year. Because of funding being less available we have to restructure it so it remains what it is, but it has to be more refined.
There was a public performance at Arts on Main this year, and obviously that opens up dance performance to an audience that would never usually consider watching it. Will that be repeated next year?
I like that kind of public performance, so I am always happy to speak to choreographers who are interested in using public space. I always try to get at least one choreographer who wants to work like that because I think it’s interesting for everyone.
A festival like this is a place where contemporary dance and technique is explored, but it also highlights the divide between contemporary dance and other dance forms. Will that change in the future? Will there be more integration?
I think unfortunately in South Africa the contemporary dance sector is looked down upon by more formal, ballet-type forms of dance. For some reason or other they don’t want to be part of it. Which is a pity, because I think that everyone would gain hugely by networking and connecting on some level
What is it about a festival that energises people, and especially the public that would never consider going to a dance show?
I think it’s because it’s such a vast selection of different kinds of work. If it’s just one company running a season, for some reason, the public doesn’t go watch. But the festival gets people interested in what’s going on.
And that must emphasise the importance of the festival for dance in South Africa?
Absolutely. And not just for South Africa. Some of the works will get picked up and invited to festivals overseas, and that’s hugely important because we are so isolated here.
How long do you think funding issues will last in South Africa?
I think unless we stand up and say: this is not good enough, we can’t work like this, the funding organisations will continue the way they are. If any change is to happen it’s up to the arts community to make those changes happen. We usually just sit around and complain. We don’t do anything.
- See more slideshows and articles from the Dance Umbrella 2011 on our special report