Crossing Borders with Amadlozi in Cue Ngema’s “Can You See Me Now?”
Thembelani Bhengu Interviews Nqubeko Cue Ngema
Nqubeko Cue Ngema is an Artist from Durban. He is a dancer, a choreographer, and the founder of Africue_entertainment. He has won an award from the South African Dance Awards and received the KZN Young Archivers award. He studied his National Diploma of Drama and Production Studies at the Durban University of Technology (2013–2015). He works as a choreographer and a dance teacher based in Durban.
In an email conversation with Nqubeko Cue Ngema, we talk more about his work and what his current piece Can You See Me Now? is about…
Ngema is grateful to be part of the JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience in 2021 especially that he will be getting paid for doing all of this, so he says, “I had all the effort to do it and it felt great”. He also mentions that it had been a while since he had choreographed something that will be seen by wide audiences.
He says that for him, all it takes to be a good choreographer and a dancer is practicing more, going to classes, going to workshops, getting any information he will need to be a good choreographer. He also thinks that his experience of teaching really helped him, he got his internship of teaching dance so that alone made him handle how to work with other people and being creative. He says: “if you are a choreographer you also need not to think about how other people think when you create something and just explore it, do it as how you imagine it”.
Nqubeko Cue Ngema talks about his current work Can You See Me Now? And the meaning behind it. He says he always had this work and always wanted to share it, but the time frame wasn’t right for him. And it happed that when Dr. Liane Loots, JOMBA! Artistic Director and curator contacted him to inform him that he had been selected for a “Durban Digital Edge” grant on this year’s “Border Crossings” edition of the festival, he then went back to his notebook and adjusted Can You See Me Now? to try to make the content match with the theme they were given and make it a solid choreography. Cue Ngema says that Can You See Me Now? talks about his ancestors , how he has been overwhelmed by this darkness not knowing about his cultures just living a “Western life” but then at some point he found out that there are opportunities in life that come and when he is about to get them they just disappear out of the blue, he than went back and found out that there were rituals and ceremonies that had to be done, and he grew up, but they were not done and that creates some darkness around you, so Can You See Me Now? is basically about him asking his ancestors if they can see him now, if they recognise him now, the story is around that.
Ngema talks about the challenges he faced during this process and as a dancer and a choreographer with Covid-19 around and the country being on lockdown. He says that it was really difficult for him to choreograph because his piece requires more than four people and it was also out of studio and it was a side specific shoot so with Covid-19 and the rules to remain indoors, and if shooting in public you have to maintain covid-19 protocols. He said, “I also faced challenges as a dance teacher, because of Covid-19 students were not coming…it was really hard making money to survive and being an artist there were no performances and it was a really hard time to work as a dancer and choreographer”. Indeed, Covid-19 has severely affected performing arts sectors on a global scale, it has also prompted artists to respond to these challenges in creative and evolving ways…
Can You See Me Now? is available free, to stream on the JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience’s YouTube channel for the remainder of the festival.
