Musho Theatre Festival 2016 - Call For Proposals

MUSHO! FESTIVAL 2016 - get your proposals in now!



PANSA KZN will be hosting the Musho! International Theatre Festival from 13 January to 18 January 2016. 

The festival is dedicated to small works and the celebration of the skill of the solo or duo performer.

Proposals must be formatted as detailed below, and should be submitted to kzn@pansa.org.za before 12.00 (midday) on 2 October, 2015.

All proposals are read by a selection committee of local theatre professionals, and successful applicants will be contacted at the end of October 2015.



Selection criteria for the festival include:



·      The work must have only one or two persons only performing.

·      The work should be an innovative and interesting concept.

·      The work should have potential appeal for local audiences.

·      The work should be able to perform in festival conditions, with quick get-in and strike, and simple technical requirements.

·      The work should be classifiable as theatre (with a discernible narrative) – we do not stage poetry, dance or music – although these elements can be included in the work.

·      The company or individual should have a good track-record and reputation.

·      The work should not have played publicly in Durban in the past 12 months.

·      The work should be 50-70 minutes in length.



Participants are paid for their participation in the festival.  The amount paid per performance will be confirmed at a later date, and is subject to the funding that PANSA receives.

 Contracts will be drawn up between the artists and the festival once selection and confirmation procedures have been concluded, in October 2015.



PROPOSAL APPLICATION FOR PARTICIPATION AT MUSHO FESTIVAL 2016



Your proposal must contain the following information, with the correctly numbered order.



COMPULSORY INFORMATION

1.  Name of producer / contact person

2.  Contact address, telephone number and email

3.  Name of show

4.  Genre of show (e.g.:  drama, comedy, physical theatre, musical theatre etc)

5.  Appropriate audience and age-group

6.  Any potential age restrictions related to: sex, nudity, violence, strong language.

7.  Exciting description of the show (maximum ½ page) – no scripts please!

8.  Description of technical requirements for the show

9.  Names of performers / directors / writers of the show

10.  Background and experience of the group (maximum ½ page)



OPTIONAL ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

10.  Details on where show has been performed previously (if any)

11.  Press reviews from show (if any)

12.  Photographs of the production (maximum of two photos)



PROPOSALS MUST BE EMAILED TO kzn@pansa.org.za BY 2 October, 2015

Almost Time For Jomba

The Centre for Creative Arts and the College of Humanities of the University of KwaZulu-Natal proudly present the 

17th annual JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience

26 August – 6 September 2015

Introdans - Un Ballo Copyright Introdans Photo Hans Gerritsen

The University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Centre for Creative Arts, is proud to present its 17th annual JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience.  This year’s JOMBA! is an international and national treat for dance and theatre lovers with dancers, dance companies and choreographers making their way to Durban from all corners of the globe. For 12 full days, the Centre for Creative Arts offers some of the world’s best dance theatre work that will provoke, entertain, delight and challenge.

With the long term vision of using the JOMBA! platform to honour the African continent and to continue to make artistic connection with the rest of Africa, the festival opens with two works from West Africa. Lagos based Nigerian choreographers Adedayo Liadi and Qudus Onikekeu offer JOMBA! the world premiere of their new duets called “City of God, City of Man”. Imagining the stage as the “city” the audience enters this performance world where these two virtuoso dancers work both in and out of harmony in a conversation about contemporary Africa. This is followed by the rare and beautiful dance theatre vision of Kisangani (Democratic Republic of Congo) based Faustin Linyekula. No stranger to JOMBA! (this is his third visit), Linyekula’s unique and critical vision of contemporary Africa has always made his work the key taking point at any festival. He comes to JOMBA! with his internationally acclaimed solo work “Le Cargo”. In this dance work, Faustin addresses the colonial and postcolonial African legacy of decades of war, terror, fear … all of which settle on the body; and his body specifically. He tackles, with the clarity of speaking truth to power, the legacies of memory and forgetting.

Dutch company, INTRODANS, join JOMBA! to offer a stellar programme (3 performances only) of dance works from their award winning repertoire. Considered one of Europe’s leading touring companies, INTRODANS works in a neo-classical ballet idiom that will definitely delight both ballet and contemporary dance lovers alike. They have titled their JOMBA! 2015 programme JOY4DANCE and it features two works by Dutch master Jiří Kylián where he display his delicate and profound ability to make partner work. The programme also includes a short quirky worked called “Psycho Killer” by choreographed Daniel Ezralow in which dancers are tied together with elastic bands and yet still manage to perform the whirlwind choreography. The programme concludes with a dynamic work by Robert Battle. Since 2011 Battle has been the artistic director of the famous Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre in New York. Battles major qualities as a choreographer is his dynamic and physically challenging dance idiom and, of course, his imagination. “Bon Appétit!” was created especially for INRODANS in 2007 and offers 12 dancers full of energy and dynamism.

Supporting the local dance industry, JOMBA! is proud to offer Siwela Sonke Dance Theatre celebrating its 20th year this year, a platform to present its most recent and controversial offering called “rite”. Directed and conceptualised by Jay Pather and choreographed jointly by him and the full cast, “rite” premiered at this year’s Dance Umbrella in Johannesburg in February, and caused a storm of critical discussion. No stranger to controversy and sitting on the cutting edge, Pather’s “rite” is a re-imaginations of Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps (Rite of Spring), first presented with Nijinsky’s choreography of 1913. Using the vehicle of ancient ritual to probe the contemporary, “rite” is a journey into a deep and dark contemporary Africa and is dance theatre at its most profound!

JOMBA! 2015 is also extremely proud to host the outcome of the 3rd year of a long term dance collaboration between Deeply Rooted Dance Theatre (Chicago, USA) and Durban’s celebrated FLATFOOT DANCE COMPANY. This collaboration began in 2013 at the JOMBA! platform, went on to continue in Chicago in July 2014, and returns to Durban for 2015. Despite the huge challenges of finance, navigating the distance (spatially and in the head and heart) of North/South hemispheres, and 24 hour flights across numerous time zones, these two companies have found each other in a space of mutual respect and recognition of the dance and art education work they do. This JOMBA! 2015 programme is a testament to some audacious personal and artistic will to keep the connection alive and offers 5 unique works; some from the Deeply Rooted repertoire, and some from the collaborative space shared by these two companies, dancers and choreographers. The programme features dance work by Chicago’s Kevin Lega Jeff, Nicole Clarke Springer, Anthony Marshall, Gary Abbot and Durban’s Lliane Loots.

Finally, on the main platform performance front, JOMBA! continues its long-standing relationship with artSpace (durban) Gallery where Johannesburg based dance and performance artist Nhanhla Mahlangu will perform his acclaimed work “CHANT”.  Directed by Gerard Bester, the work is a site-specific dance theatre response to contemporary manipulations of nature, the use of technology, religion, tradition and politics to the point where our only spaces (living and in the mind) are crippled. It is a heartfelt and very beautiful word, sound and physical danced work that honours Mahlangu’s desire to leave a better world to his two daughters.
The artSpace event also offers a site responsive viewing of the outcome of a collaborative exchange between the Floating Outfit Project (Durban, South Africa) and Studios Kabako (Kisangani, Democratic Republic of Congo). Guided by Faustin Linyekula and Boyzie Cekwana, this laboratory programme has featured 9 dancers from both West and South Africa. Cekwana and Linyekula see this artistic space – intriguingly called  “Redefining … Homework” - as part of an on-going 15 year long conversations that asks the young artist involved to find their truth as they share (homework style?) what it means to be an artist living and working in Africa.

JOMBA! hosts its usual platforms of the Fringe (Tuesday 1 September) with 10 new works of 10 to 15 minute each, and the Youth Fringe (Sunday 30 August ). With over 30 entries for a coveted place in this year’s JOMBA! Fringe, the selection of only 10 works was a difficult task but means that the final selection offers a standard of dance theatre that is growing. The JOMBA! Youth Fringe takes place at the UKZN Open Air Theatre (entrance is free) and is a celebration of over 20 KZN based youth dance groups and the incredible dance work that they are doing.

JOMBA! also offers a full programme of workshops and master classes by all of the participating dancers and choreographers. For a full listing go the JOMBA page on www.cca.ukzn.ac.za. These workshops and classes are offered free of charge but booking is essential.

And a first for JOMBA! is a special dance lighting workshop hosted by USA based Christian Epps. Epps comes to JOMBA! with Chicago’s Deeply Rooted Dance Theatre team and his willingness to be here has him taking on a vital role in the technical team for the whole of the festival, and offering this dedicated lighting workshop for choreographers on the 31 August at the Elisabeth Sneddon Theatre. 20 participants were chosen from a very rigours application process.

Tickets are R60 and R45 (scholars/students/pensioners).

Bookings: Computicket or at venue from one hour before.

Venues: Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre at 7.30pm except on Wednesday  2 September at 6.30pm where it takes place at artSpace Durban.

For more information, please go to www.cca.ukzn.ac.za and

Facebook  JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience

Twitter @Jomba_dance

JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience is organised by the Centre for Creative Arts (UKZN) with valuable support from the eThekwini Municipality.

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PMB Jazz Festival Is Coming

A-List Performers For This Jazz Festival

Golden Horse Casino, Hotel and Entertainment is hosting the 2nd Annual Pietermaritzburg Jazz Festival on 1 August 2015 with an exciting line-up.

2015 Artist line-up:

• Freshlyground
• Jimmy Dludlu
• Judith Sephuma
• Zakes Bantwini
• Vincent Bones
• Thokozani Langa
• Joel Zuma
• Prime Circle

Tickets: Computicket

Venue: Golden Horse Infield

Doors open 10am - Midnight

No alcohol will be allowed in the venue.

For more info: 033-395-8126 or www.goldenhorse.co.za

This edition by Fred Felton

Twitter @fredfelton 

Get The New Doritos Jacked and You Could Win A Trip To Ibiza

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*T&C apply, competition closes 16 August 2015

Win An UberChopper Ride To The Durban July

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The prize also includes entrance into the Jack Daniel's Boomtown Marquee and transport home after a VIP day at the races.

How to win:

• Open your Uber app at 8:30am on Saturday 4th July and you will see an uberCHOPPER icon called uberDBNJULY 
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To arrive in style all you need to do is download the free app for Android, iPhone, Blackberry 7, Windows Phone or register for Uber at www.uber.com/go 

Facebook: UberRSA

Twitter: @Uber_RSA 

Almost time for Decorex Joburg 2015

Decorex Joburg is almost here and the line up looks amazing:

Stephen Falcke at Decorex Joburg 2014 - Image Supplied

This year you can expect some amazing features including:

• Stephen Falcke's classic-contemporary and impeccably proportioned interiors
• The Private Property Trend House
• The sophisticated Graham Beck Wine Bar
• The designs of Kirsten Di Clemente
• The Grid Cafe 
• The Plascon 2016 Colour Forecast
• The Sprada Cafe
• The Dining and Entertaining Theatre sponsored by Kitchen Frontiers
• The Consol Gourmet Food Market
• The Ballroom Art Gallery

There is much more on offer so you better book early:

Dates: 6 - 10 August 2015

Public Access: 6th August 1pm - 6pm

7th to 10th August 10am - 6pm

Tickets: R100 adults, R85 pensioners and scholars, R15 for kids under 12

Trade Access:

Trade-only preview morning: 6th August 10am - 1pm

Trade focused days: 6th and 7th August

Venue: Gallagher Convention Centre, Midrand

For more info visit: www.decorex.co.za

Article by Fred Felton

Twitter @fredfelton