PinnedTo all the fetchers of my bodyby Phiwayinkosi Kwanele Nyembe — Among us dwells entities that were cut from a different cloth Fashioned by the spirits that laced the fabric with the power of transcendence The veil that separates the holy of holies tore open, and from it emerged a seer. Who meditates in movement, a stillness that evokes ancestral dwelling…Jomba2 min readJomba2 min read
PinnedTogether again, from far awayBy Lauren Warnecke (Guest Writer) — It feels bittersweet to scroll through the brochure for the 2022 JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience, knowing that I will miss most of it. From my desk on the other side of the world, my favourite dance event of the year will mostly go on without me — as it should…Dance3 min readDance3 min read
Sep 13, 2022Ukuphinda wenze imephu ekhayaIbhalwe nguClare Craighead (Umbhali Oyisivakashi)/ Kuhunyushwe ngu-Lisa Goldstone — Ku lo nyaka ka-“JOMBA! EDGE” ibuya, ngemuva kweminyaka emibili yokwenza umdanso we-inthanethi, ibe bukhoma. Abadidiyeli abathathu bomdanso base-KZN banikezwe izibonelelo zefestivali ukuthi badlale kuqala umsebenzi wabo ohlelweni lwes’-24 lwefestivali ngoLwesihlanu nangoMgqibelo wesibili nowesithathu kuSepthemba e-Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre.Jomba3 min readJomba3 min read
Sep 13, 2022Healing Aesthetics: Vincent Sekwati Mantsoe and Flatfoot Dance Company dance with “the unseen ones”By Tammy Ballantyne (Guest Writer) — Cocooned from the world and its problems, the audience at the final performance of JOMBA! on September 10, journeyed with Flatfoot Dance Company and Vincent Sekwati Mantsoe into realms beyond ourselves, beyond the immediacy of our lives. Perhaps the gift of these two works — CUT (part 2) and KOMA…Jomba4 min readJomba4 min read
Sep 10, 2022JOMBA! Open Horizons 2022 — The Space Authors UsBy Jennifer Passios (Guest Writer) — JOMBA! Contemporary Experience launched the first of its 2022 digital offerings on 1 September with the release of six screen dances through the Open Horizons Platform. Now in its second iteration, this showcase offers audiences around the world the opportunity to engage with short films (one to eight minutes long)…Jomba6 min readJomba6 min read
Sep 10, 2022“But still walking till this day”By Marcia Mzindle (Guest Writer) — As we draw to the close of the 24th Jomba! festival, our thirst quenched and our spirits fed, the mood at the Sneddon theatre still soars high. On Thursday 8 September we gather watch the performance of Mamela Nyamza (South Africa) titled Grounded to keep burning the spark in our…Jomba4 min readJomba4 min read
Sep 10, 2022The private made public in Nyamza’s “Grounded”By Bongekile Mkhize — On Thursday the 8th of September at the Sneddon Theatre, dancer and choreographer Mamela Nyamza presented Grounded as part of the 24th JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience. This is an intergenerational collaboration with her son Amkele Mandla. It’s a fiercly vulnerable work, courageous to its core. As the lights fade up…Jomba3 min readJomba3 min read
Sep 10, 2022Evoking community, holding space… breath and vulnerabilityby Marcia Mzindle (Guest Writer) — On the 5th of September, JOMBA! Legacy Artist for 2022, Vincent Mantsoe’s black and white dance film CUT (Part 1) screened as part of the festival’s “AFRICAN DIGITAL VOICES” platform. The digital screen dance which was made in 2020, under lockdown conditions was also part of the first entirely “Digital…Jomba2 min readJomba2 min read
Sep 10, 2022IN SEARCH OF COMMUNITY, DANCING TO CONNECT…By Mhlengi Ngcobo — “These films represent something really significant in terms us of holding hands across the continent” Dr Lliane Loots shares in her opening address to the “AFRICAN DIGITAL VOICES” which screened on 5 September. …Jomba3 min readJomba3 min read
Sep 9, 2022“Grounded” in love, honesty and brutal truths, Nyamza and son reveal their vulnerabilityBy Tammy Ballantyne (Guest Writer) — We are invited to be seated on the stage; chairs arranged in rows on either side of a raised platform with lights. Should we go or choose the safe space of the auditorium? What will Mamela Nyamza ask of us? We are very close, we cannot fidget, hide or detract…Jomba4 min readJomba4 min read
