Battery Dance
presents
A Virtual Performance
of

The 39th Annual Battery Dance Festival

Night Six: FROM AFRICA

https://batterydance.org/battery-dance-festival/

August 19, 2020

This evening welcomes dances from Johannesburg, Kampala, and Harare, providing an emotional tour-de-force of southern and east Africa.

MOVING INTO DANCE (South Africa) presents two performances. First, “Everlast”, evoking the dehumanization of labor when workers lose their rights of ownership to the products they create. The second performance, “Road”, is what we travel on and learn from as we progress through life. EUGENE MASHIANE is masterful alone on stage as he struggles to remain close to his work while being pulled, dragged away from it by forces he cannot control. OSCAR BUTHELZI’s choreography and dance carry us forcefully along “Road”, joined by dancer MUZI SHILI.

THE DUNA DANCE THEATRE (Zimbabwe) filmed its “Making Men” outdoors in the grassland. Four men in native dress embrace their environment, intercut with a narration. They are reaching manhood. They want to grow into men. But fear lingers. Self-doubt holds them back until they break free of the invisible but powerful chains that restrict them.

ABDUL KINYENYA (Uganda) also films outdoors in “Twete (free ourselves)”. Moving from greenery and stone to the edge of a stream, the dancer splashes in delight. Stone by stone he moves into the flowing waters, letting nature run through him. Freedom in a glorious land.

In “Thina”, LUTHANDO ARTS ACADEMY (South Africa) portrays a young South African family clinging together, then fragmenting into arguments over money and property. The eight sit in a circle on the dark stage, arms intertwined, holding hands. They are comfortable, safe, close. They rise as one and look skyward together in slow, rhythmic motion. A man breaks away and turns his face toward the darkness. The rest release hands and arms slowly, breaking apart, separating, wandering into shadows. The use of lighting is especially effective in this piece.

The dancing in FROM AFRICA is visceral, powerful, and stunningly beautiful.

-Karen D’Onofrio-