Cape Town - A musical tour with renowned instrumentalist Pops Mohamed and composer Dave Reynolds will be wrapping up this weekend, with a final performance and documentary screening of the award-winning SanDance! on Sunday.
The tour, which began on November 5, will see its grand finale at Trenchtown Restaurant, Observatory.
SanDance! producer Edwin Angless said the film follows San dancers from rehearsals in remote Kalahari villages in Namibia and Botswana to electrifying performances at the Kuru Dance Festival.
“Radiating from the Kuru Dance Festival into the visionary world of the trance-healing dance, SanDance! illuminates the spiritual traditions that underpin San culture across southern Africa.
“SanDance! expresses the hopes, fears and dreams of San dancers as they strive to revitalise beautiful dance traditions threatened by the marginalisation of the San’s fragile hunter-gatherer culture,” said Angless.
All proceeds from DVD sales go to the dance groups performing in the film and the San non-governmental organisation Kuru Development Trust, said Angless.
The evening will feature Mohamed and Reynolds playing acoustic music on traditional San instruments, a screening of the hour-long documentary, followed by a Q&A session with filmmaker Richard Wicksteed, and Angless.
Reynolds said, Sandance! the Soundtrack CD will be launched with music from the documentary, which had won the Best Documentary Soundtrack award at the Accolade Festival.
“So far the discussions have included issues of identity, modern San heritage (especially here in Cape Town), lessons we can learn from ancient cultures, appropriation of culture and the need for a new understanding regarding resources and the environment in the world. It’s also about sharing joyful music and fun, which Pops and I have dedicated our whole lives to,” said Reynolds.
“Onstage we explore unusual instruments such as the Paraguayan harp, kora (African harp), Khoisan mouth bow and steel pans.”
Tickets can be purchased online via Quicket: “Dave Reynolds & Pops Mohamed: Documentary screening & Live Performance in Obs”.