Art lovers gathered at the Sibikwa Arts Centre on Saturday, the 15th of October 2022 for the Inaugural Body Moves dance festival.
Abled and disabled dancers from South Africa, Uganda, Ireland, Italy and Flanders came together to honour and celebrate dance.
Throughout the week before the festival, workshops and forums were held to discuss the politics around inclusivity and disability.
The festival aimed to challenge perceptions and expand understanding of dance and disability, promoting cultural exchange, collaboration and cooperation between African and European countries.
It truly was a perfect indication of diversity and inclusion amongst the dancers.
The companies that took part in the festival were Monkey Mind (Flanders), Offincine di Creazione (Italy), Equinox Theatre Company (Ireland), Introdans (Netherlands), Flatfoot Dance Company (Durban), Moving into Dance (Johannesburg) and Sibikwa Arts Centre (Benoni).
Dr Lliane Loots from UKZN and Flatfoot Dance Company comments about the performance from this past weekend,
“The performance yesterday was a miracle. 6 works from different companies from European countries and the collaboration between the Netherlands and South Africa, indicates the incredible power of celebrating art and the art making of incredible choreographers and dancers who are literally transforming the way we think about integrated arts and performance,”
she says.
Tebandeke Joseph, a choreographer and dancer from Uganda led the first act with a solo titled “Time Machine” that took the audience’s breath away.
Time Machine is a commentary on the perceptions of the “vulnerable disabled person” and expresses Joseph’s personal journey in defying the limitations of a world I’ll fit for the progress and success of a disabled Ugandan man.
The performance by MonkeyMind Company & Unmute Dance Company from South Africa/Flanders was titled “What we can do together”. The dance interprets how personal stories are written in the bodies and can become a collective memory.
The collaboration between The Netherlands and South Africa was a duet by Eva and Thapelo. The performance was breathtakingly beautiful and had the audience in tears.