“HATCHED ENSEMBLE”, Nyamza’s dancing legacy
By Kholeka Ngcobo
Mamela Nyamza’s “HATCHED ENSEMBLE” took to stage on JOMBA!’s opening night on 29 August at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre. Nyamza is named as this year’s Legacy Artist for the festival — a well deserved accolade for an artist whose work confronts and engages uncomfortable truths that form the pulse of her aesthetic offerings. As a first-time viewer of the JOMBA! festival I was overwhelmed with astonishment and feel very privileged to have been in the audience last night.
“HATCHED ENSEMBLE” is a rebirth of Nyamza’s original work titled “Hatched” which was created and performed as a solo by the artist in 2007. “Hatched” is a reflection of/on her own life as a mother and an artist. “HATCHED ENSEMBLE” extends this and prompts broader reflections on complex intersectional identities through dance. This dance piece introduces 8 dancers that come from different racial and gender backgrounds, making intersectionality a centerpiece in the work. A unifying factor in the work is that all of the dancers have a training background that includes ballet and so this is used as a central motif in the work with Nyamza choreographing a kind of tension between different identity states that the dancers inhabit through their dance.
“HATCHED ENSEMBLE” is nothing short of magnificent! From the props which are a collection of wire trees, chickens, cars, windmills, flowers and cows that eventually also become part of the set; to the washing-line stretched overhead across the width of the stage, used variously to hang up and take down various costume elements, the work is a visual feast. The costumes, by Bhungane Mehlomakulu, offer a series of layered and textured pieces. The white tutu-type skirts, adorned with clothes pegs which give them a feathered look, and from where I am sitting, offer the silhouette of a classical ballet dancer which is at the centre of this work. This strong silhouette is paired, initially, with the nude torsos of the dancers. A meeting of cultures — the common sight of bare-chested African dancers meets the structure of classical ballet in the tutu-type skirt paired with the pointe shoes that the dancers wear for the majority of the work. Nyamza exploits these images creating a tension between identities we inhabit and the self-love and acceptance that we strive towards.
Nyamza’s ability to infuse ballet with various African dance styles and sounds is what caught my attention and interest the most. Her merging of different dance forms and styles (and cultures) had me glued to the dancers while jamming to the catchy African traditional songs that played as part of the soundtrack to the work. The inclusion of “UKUGIDA” (usually a Xhosa or Zulu dance) near the end of the work offered a seductive pull for me, an interest in how African and European cultures can occupy the same space (and body) in an acknowledging and empowering way. The dancers seduce the audience by slowly moving down center stage, the lighting by Wilhelm Disbergen, focusing on them while they share naughty smirks with the audience, and then cover their faces with the plastic red coats they wear. There is a sense of push/pull in the scene and Nyamza times this well. Watching “HATCHED ENSEMBLE” evoked emotions of self-introspection and realisation for me that also speak to the need for self-acceptance. It’s a powerful message and one which will stay with me for some time still!
JOMBA! is just getting started, and if the vibrant atmosphere of its opening night is anything to go by, I look forward to the festival ahead. Durban, do come through and support the festival, it runs for the next 12 days until 10 September and is sure to have something for everyone.
Catch the second and final Durban performance of “HATCHED ENSEMBLE” at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre tonight. The show is at 19.30 and tickets are available via computicket or at the theatre box office one hour before the show.
