WHEN an arts festival grows year after year, the organisers must be doing something right. This can be said of the Durban Dance Movement Festival (DDMF) which is now in its third year. Celebrating some of the best that dance in KwaZulu-Natal has to offer, Saturday will see this one-of-a-kind event featuring highly talented dancers at the Playhouse Drama Theatre.
In collaboration with the Department of Arts and Culture, the festival will showcase the diverse cultures through African contemporary, hip hop, break dance, kwaito, traditional Zulu and Indian dance, ballet and more.
Talking to Tonight, artistic director of the festival, Jarryd Watson, revealed what the festival has in store this year. Featuring over 150 dancers from KZN abroad, the show includes dance groups and studios such as Dance Movement, the Minette De Klerk Academy, Footworx dance studio, Young Star Productions and Stage Burners. These dancers will showcase a variety of styles.
Watson shares: “There will be something new like rhythmic gymnastics and balance acts. There will be dancers dancing with props as well as some lyrical and storytelling performances. And with over 150 dancers, it was quiet intense, especially with the load shedding. But luckily, for each dance group, there is a dance teacher or group leader who is responsible. So this show is going to be bigger, better and feature a lot more daring dance acts.”
In terms of the cast, the director says he selected the dance groups: “It was based on their experience and previous performances. The qualities I was looking for were good talent, technical aspects, creativity in performances and the professional ethics of each group. Our major dancers in the festival are our training professional groups who have been in this industry for more than five years and have made success of their careers. Dance Movement has travelled abroad three times to represent South Africa at inter-national events and have brought home 12 trophies. Lil’ Raskalz have just returned from Seychelles after performing at the Seychelles Carnival.”
With the third installment taking place this weekend, I ask Watson how they make each show different and better than the last.
“Well, this year’s festival will be on a bigger stage at the Playhouse Drama Theatre which means we have more groups invited to participate and show new performances. We also have more lighting and sound effects that will add more creativity to each performance. I love what this festival represents and the fact that we can have the privilege of exposing all dancers from beginners to professionals in a professional space; this is the very essences of social cohesion, development, growth and sustainability in the arts and culture sector.”
The DDMF includes two shows, one showcasing the junior and senior level performances from the youth and the other show featuring the professional groups from KZN Dance Academy, Kwamashu Theatre Dance, Blue Fire Productions, Dance Movement and the new break dance sensation group, Lil’ Raskals.
Watson sees dance as a representation of the freedom of expression to tell our stories in creative ways that are appealing to audiences: “Dance in my life, is passion and home and also a way of balancing the stresses in life. It’s a way to escape to another world, to be happy.”
Shedding light on what he would like to achieve through this fest, Watson says the aim of the show is to contribute to the growth of dance in KZN: “Also, it’s a means to give dancers another platform to express themselves and expose their talents. This festival is to assist in sustaining dance in KZN and create jobs for our artists. Besides an excellent and successful festival, I would like to encourage our funders and supporters to invest in us and provide proper funding for dance in Durban.”
l DDMF, Sat, Playhouse Company. 3pm and 7.30pm. R100 at Computicket.