A journey of breaking away from social impositions
Slindile Mchunu interviews Snethemba Khuzwayo
Snethemba Khuzwayo is a young talent born at eShowe, uMlalqzi in the region of KwaMpehlela, in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. She moved to Durban to continue with her secondary education, joined Mhayise Productions Movement Laboratory in 2016 to gain training in dance and choreography. Through that opportunity she got a chance to be a part of a few of the lab’s works choreographed by the director of the company, Musa Hlatshwayo. As of recent, she’s featured in a music video by Dr.Thokozani Mhlambi.
Her commissioned work under the JOMBA! Digital Edge platform is called Border Impositions which challenged the socially imposed borders and boundaries onto the bodies of the young generations of women through culture, religion and beliefs. When asked how she thinks her work was received by public being that her performance was showcased on an online platform, she said, “I feel the presentation went pretty good. And I believe people were applauding wherever they were. Also getting feedback from people who watched gave me hope and it felt awesome”.
In short, she said “ the piece goes through a journey of breaking away from societal impositions, it looks at transcending and overriding these metaphoric borders created by society and standards that younger generations are expected to accept”.
The games played at the beginning of the work along with the music seemed mystic and also nostalgic, for Khuzwayo, they symbolise children growing up in a process of figuring themselves out, the boundaries around them, being placed in a certain environment or positions. And also metaphorical borders and boundaries they keep trying to jump over, cross over or break away from.
The costumes she chose, particularly the white dress represent, for her, a new beginning, fresh start and blank canvas as we’re breaking free from to these borders, overriding them, attempting to start afresh. The way she manipulates the dress in her work, she says — indicates how society, guardians and parents control situations and the younger generation to become what they want, to fulfil what they wanted for themselves, but never managed to achieve. With the music, it was dramatic, fast, flowy like the series of life’s troubles and symbolised to not dance to the tunes of the society. In summary, Khuzwayo indicates: “The purpose was for the audience to feel something if it was hope they felt then hope it is. But most importantly it was for the audience to interpret it how they felt, what symbols sparked something, be it a memory, an experience or the situation they are in”.
The JOMBA! Durban Digital Edge programme is available on the festival website and YouTube channel until 5 Sepmember.
