In a corner of a Pretoria rehearsal studio the workshop facilitator was doing something fascinating with a back pack.
That choreographer working in 1997 with students at his alma mater of the then Pretoria Technikon (Tshwane University of Technology) dance department, was none other than Joburg-born and bred Timothy le Roux. Since that day of inspiring experimentation (as part of a Robyn Orlin/FNB Dance Umbrella choreographic residency) Le Roux’s award winning dancing career has ended. But his stature as a choreographer has developed considerably.
He has to be the most visible contemporary dance maker, currently on a range of local stages.
Not only is his original choreography being restaged and adapted for Pieter Toerien’s touring revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar, but his contemporary dance making is enjoying a high profile.
While Tshwane Dance Theatre ends its current 15 Mins of Fame mixed bill at The Market Theatre with Le Roux’s elegiac All The King’s Horses, in Pretoria, Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) dance department students are creating The Death of Memories.
Once this work premieres in this flagship institution’s 30 Something… the 30th anniversary season tomorrow night, they will focus on Chronicles: Works by Timothy le Roux. Next month this triple bill travels to the National Arts Festival’s Arena featuring revivals of Wallflower Diaries (2005), English for Immigrants (2009) along with The Death of Memories.
Taking a coffee break from his day (and night) job as the Joburg Theatre’s resident company manager, the quietly spoken 38-year-old dance professional is battling to come to terms with the unprecedented honour (outside of the Standard Bank Young Artists commissioning) of having an entire programme dedicated to him.
“I am very grateful to TUT’s Debra Gush for believing in me. I tried to squirm my way out of it,” he grimaces.
Despite all the attention, he admits to experiencing a gratifying sense of history of being included in the anniversary season, as well as consistently working with senior students who are the next wave of dance professionals.
That hands-on knowledge spans musical theatre, industrial theatre and serious theatre dance industries.
Although he enjoys the annual let-your-hair down madness of the Joburg Theatre’s pantomimes, Le Roux hates being pigeon-holed as The Panto Guy (he has six Janice Honeyman extravaganzas under his choreographic belt). “I do other stuff,” he mutters. That’s obvious, but what continues to inspire him when he creates dance works?
“Initially, it varies. A piece of music, or an idea, or a theme. But nothing stays for long. What I envisioned in my lounge, in the mirror, over a glass of wine, doesn’t happen. When I am on the studio floor with the dancers, it happens.
“When I did Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat I had it all mapped out. But when rehearsals started I couldn’t do any of it.
“I have to choreograph on the spur of the moment. There are such talented dancers now. I work in collaboration; there is an investment from them.”
It’s that texture of shared experience mixed with Le Roux’s questioning of his own history as a citizen and a multi-faceted artist which informs the choreography.
“It is about where I fit in as a South African. Self-indulgent?” he asks rhetorically. Pause. “I hope not. I think I speak for a lot of people.”
l 30 Something… Breytenbach Theatre, Pretoria from June 1 to 11 showcasing Vicki Karras’s revival of Sir Fredrick Ashton’s ballet Les Patineurs and premieres of Chanel Gomes’s Precious Things, Timothy le Roux’s The Death of Memories and Sabelo Maphumulo and Debra Gush’s Ha!
l Jesus Christ Superstar, Montecasino Teatro, June 3 to 26.
l Chronicles: Works by Timothy le Roux at PJ’s, National Arts Festival Arena, Grahamstown, June 30 to July 2.