JOMBA 2023, Launching the Transformative Dance Experience
By Esese Kunene
JOMBA! 2023 is here celebrating its 25th Anniversary this year!
The JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience 2023 runs from 29 August until 10 September — 13 exhilarating days of dance, here in Durban!
The festival offers audiences the opportunity and spaces to appreciate and explore the art form that is contemporary dance. As someone who is studying towards dance in education, I believe being part of the JOMBA! 2023 will give me an experience to be able to witness different bodies in action and performers telling their stories using their bodies. JOMBA! offers a jam-packed programme this year which will challenge the conventional norms of which bodies are allowed to dance on stage, for public audiences!
This is a very exciting prospect for me personally! If you are someone who is interested in dance just like me, come to JOMBA! 2023 you may have the chance to meet and connect with professional dancers, choreographers, and dance educators, to build connections within a wider dance community, which can open doors for future collaborations, mentorship, and professional development opportunities. You do not want to miss this amazing opportunity!
On the 29 August at Durban’s Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre, Mamela Nyamza’s “HATCHED ENSEMBLE” opens the festival. Nyamza is this year’s Legacy Artist, and her offering on this year’s festival can be seen as a legacy work considering it began as a solo in 2007 and the artist has subsequently redeveloped the work in a new context for many bodies. This work has a second performance on 30 August.
On 31 August Joseph Tebandeke’s “Time Machine: Unveiling the Inner Strength” offers an exploration that centres around the profound connection between Tebandeke’s body and his crutches, as well as how the world perceives them. Following this, Unmute Dance Company offers their “TIMELAPSE”, a gentle reminder that change is inevitable. This double-bill plays only for one night, so be sure to book your ticket to secure your spot in the audience.
Then, on the 1 September, Introdans from the Netherlands will present their curated programme: “HubClub Special”. The programme promises audiences a unique experience with a colourful group of guest dancers who ask us to consider that dance is, indeed, for everyone!
On 2 September “Flying Cow” has its festival premiere at Durban’s Stable Theatre. The performance explores how children play with one another and is custom-made for young audiences. Siwela Sonke Dance Theatre’s “surface tension” has one performance only on the evening of 2 September at UKZN’s Jubilee Hall. The work promises to be an immersive experience for Durban audiences, and is sure to provoke and evoke!
On 3 September, two festival-favourite platforms provide their offerings: The JOMBA! Youth Open Horizons and the JOMBA! Digital Open Horizons. The Youth Open Horizons celebrates youth dancers and community dance groups in and around Durban while also offering a plethora of dance forms and styles for festival audiences to experience. This platform really does have something for everyone, from classical Indian Dance to traditional Zulu dance styles alongside African contemporary dance all performed by dancers under the age of 16-years old. This is followed, in the evening, by the JOMBA! Digital Open Horizons which will take place on the festival’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/Jomba_Dance. The Digital Open Horizons platform this year features six short screen dance works from South Africa and Kenya.
“RAMANENJANA” by Gabi Saranouffi and Simona Deaconescu will be performed at the Stable Theatre on 4 September. Billed as a “docufiction”, the work examines an historical mass dance movement through an exploration of dance’s social role. Pak Ndjamena’s “DEUS NOS ACUDI/GOD HELPS US” follows on 5 September with an exploration into ancestry through dance.
Another exciting festival offering includes two works by German choreographers; “UN-ZEIT” by Helge Letonja and “INVASION(S)” by Hannah Ma which both perform on 6 September at the Sneddon Theatre. Letonja’s “UN-ZEIT” unravels concepts of time and linearity while Ma’s “INVASION(S)” focuses on the body as both witness to and landscape of political, social, and biological changes and catastrophes in the post-migrant world.
Marcia Mzindle’s performance called “INTO EMDAKA” will take place on the festival’s YouTube channel on 7 September. The work, according to Mzindle’s programme note, focuses on a reimagining of the black female body as a site of possibilities that unveils its multiple identities.
“Woza Wenties!” by Lorin Sookool is on 8 September at the Howard College Dome, and this is followed by Virva Talonen and FLATFOOT DANCE COMPANY who present “Nothing. Personal” and “Portable Home” at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre.
ACE Dance and Music present three works on the programme on 9 and 10 September: “UNKNOWN REALMS”, “THE NIGHT BEFORE TOMORROW” and “MANA — THE POWER WITHIN”. The company promises a powerful programme for Durban audiences and is not to be missed.
Closing this year’s festival on 10 September, in partnership with Brazil’s PANORAMA FESTIVAL with the presentation of “ELEGBARA” directed and designed by Nyandra Fernandes and “EDA” by Andrey Silva, Karoll Silva Larissa Lima, Luciana Barros and Ricardo Xavier.
Contemporary dance performances aim to evoke emotions and convey powerful messages through movement, music, and visuals. By watching JOMBA! 2023, you may experience a range of emotions and connect with the performers on a deeper level. Brace yourself to be moved the way you have never been moved before, because watching skilled dancers perform intricate movements and showcase their creativity can inspire your own artistic endeavours. If you are not at the JOMBA! 2023 experience … really! Where are you? Because it’s the only place to be.
