State Theatre presents a live Kucheza Afrika Festival 2022

Image supplied: Vincent Masoe in Koma

The festival will start on 1 April and continue until 10 April. It will also mark 30 years anniversary of dance maestro Vincent Mantsoe’s illustrious dance career by staging two of his works. He will headline with a premiere of Koma in a double bill with his longtime industry friend David April, who will salute him with a reimagination of Mantsoe’s acclaimed Barenaon 2 and 3 April. Mantsoe will also offer a masterclass on his famous techniques on 31 March.

2021 Standard Bank Young Artist Award winner Kristi-Leigh Gresse has been commissioned by the festival. She is recreating Encryption, which will premiere to live audiences on 8 and 9 April. The work ‘reflects on what makes us, what informs our personalities, our politics, and our socio-cohesive behaviour. Told through movement, images, and song the production is a yearning for understanding self.’

Image supplied: A scene from Ngwedi

Gregory Maqoma’s Ketima and Luyanda Sidiya’s Umnikelo will pair in a double bill that will launch the festival on 1 April. To the mix, Sidiya is bringing his entire trilogy, comprising of also Sive and Amawethu, which is set to close the festival on 10 April. Siva will show on the same dates as Bailey Snyman’s critically acclaimed Gaslands on 8 and 9 April. This main programme of the festival also features Thami Tshabalala with Isinyuso on 5 and 6 April, and an international act Helge Letonje exhibiting Digging in the Night on 7 and 8 April.

“The Kucheza Afrika Festival 2022 offering boasts some of the top choreographers and dancers that our country has produced – it promises the best and I cannot wait to experience this with both our patrons and dance community,” said SAST artistic director Aubrey Sekhabi.

Image supplied

A new category called Open Programme has been added to the festival, with the aim to invite professional and young artists that are looking for a platform to create and/or present work. Under the category, Sbonelo Mchunu will explore a life of a loner who is subjected to confusion, self-destruction, and self-loss with Internal on 2 and 3 April. Phumlani Ndebele’s Thirst, an exploration of the reaches of physicality and the capacity of the human form, will show on 8 and 7 April.

Kucheza’s Young Artists Programme, a bespoke platform for young choreographers, will feature two young women: Teresa Phuti Mojela, who will present Ngwedi on 9 and 10 April, a tribute to the late dancer and choreographer Themba Mbuli “who continues to be an inspiration and a soul mover to many artists in the country;” and Julia Burnham showcasing Knots & Codes on 5 and 6 April.

Another work by a young artist is Kontroller by Muzi Shili. The piece challenges the status of political control. In it, power and time are intertwined and take audiences on a controlled gestural movement of hip hop and pantsula to a contemporary fusion of cultures.

Image supplied: A scene from Digging in the Night

Now in its’ third instalment, Kucheza Afrika Festival aims to be a platform that will help preserve dance in the country and in Africa and ensure that dancers always have a home at the continent’s biggest theatre, the State Theatre. The festival is the SAST’s aspiration to continue serving domestic and continental dance communities, as well as a call to action for Africa to converge as one in its diversity.

Kucheze Afrika Festival tickets range from R80 to R150 at Webtickets- available online, Pick n Pay and the SAST