The 26th JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience hosted by the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Centre for Creative Arts offers a 13-day feast of dance performances, workshops and discussions in Durban from 27 August to 8 September at venues around Durban.
Dancemakers from Germany, France, Japan, India, USA, and South Africa feature. Key to the artistic exchange that happens at the festival are the various workshops and discussions taking place with these artists and other creatives.
JOMBA! Talks Dance space following some of the performances at the Sneddon Theatre is an opportunity for invited dancers and choreographers to speak about their work and for audiences to engage them. Artists include Jazzart (SA), Yaseen Manuel (SA), Boyzie Cekwana (SA) and Maritri Garret (USA), Robyn Orlin (Germany/South Africa) and Deepak Kurki Shivaswamy (India).
The annual Forging Futures discussion centres around the current silencing of artists in times of conflicts that are witnessed mainly in the global North. Performer and choreographer Yaseen Manuel (SA), UKZN’s Centre for Creative Arts Director Ismail Mahomed (SA) and Human Rights Activist Nadia Meer (SA) discuss and comment on the current issues facing artists who have become at risk or risky during times of solidarity brought on by unthinkable global and local conflict and oppression and discuss strategies that have been employed around this. (Sneddon 31 August at 11:30am)
JOMBA! also hosts a series of free workshops and masterclasses with the festival guests JAZZART (28 August at 4pm), Deepak Kurki Shivaswamy (6 September at 4pm), MOVING INTO DANCE (7 September at 10am) at UKZN’s Drama Studies Dance Studio, and a music workshop with Maritri Garret (Centre for Jazz UKZN 4 September at 10:30am)
These workshops are offered free of charge to participants, but booking is essential as places are limited. The workshops are only open to dancers 16yrs and older. E-mail thobimaphanga@gmail.com to book a place at least two days in advance of the workshop.
For more information and to see the full programme, go to: https://jomba.ukzn.ac.za/
