If we don't create our own geography who will? The speaker at The Dance Factory last week was esteemed French choreographer Michel Kelemenis, who not only posed this important question about contemporary dance in Africa, but has found a practical solution.
Proudly, at the launch of Crossings, an international artistic residency, he was surrounded by 32 artists representing 10 nationalities. The "we" also embraced participants from Austria, Israel, France, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Portugal and the UK.
Seventeen months ago when Kelemenis was performing his virtuoso duet Viiiite and staging his Besame Mucho for Moving Into Dance Mophatong (MIDM), at the 2009 FNB Dance Umbrella, he realised that Newtown offered a unique resource on the continent.
Working in the precinct he identified seven dance studios and the concept of the Crossings workshop took flight.
An open call was soon made by the French Institute of South Africa for applications by choreographers, dancers, composers and lighting designers. Ezzat Ismail Ezzat is an architect from Cairo, but his passion is dance. Aly Karembe dances and teaches with the iconic Kettly Noel in Bamako, Mali, but he has never been to South Africa. Dancer and dance writer Ori Lenkinski, from Tel Aviv, hasn't either. They made the cut along with 13 other dancers.
The four choreographers, facilitated by Kelemenis and Vincent Sekwati Koko Mantsoe, are London-based Canadian Jennifer Irons, Israeli Rachel Edros and South Africans Mamela Nyamza and Thabo Rapoo.
What makes this workshop very different is that three young local lighting designers - Matthews Phala, Nkululeko Mazibuko and Sam Mabona - are being tutored by Amsterdam's Floriaan Ganzevoort.
South Africa's James Webb and Austria's Eva Koniger are overseeing the four composers: Christian Schiller and Wen Liu from Austria and South Africans Angela Mullins and Thokozani Mhlambi.
In the technique class preceding the media launch Kelemenis gave the instruction: "I want your belly buttons to be tight." Not as easy as it sounds when the rest of your body and limbs have to move, often separately, in a focused, clear and effortless manner.
In his energised Afro-fusion sessions, Mantsoe infuses bodies with complex rhythms and contractions.
Their paths first crossed at the Braamfontein Recreation Centre in 1994 when the French dancer and his Marseilles company, Kelemenis & cie, connected with Sylvia Glasser's Moving into Dance (MID).
That relationship between MID and Mantsoe has bloomed over the years.
One of the several outcomes is Crossings, which is based on international interactions Keleminis experienced in the 1980s in Guilford, England, and as a Choerolab curator in Bangalore, India, in 2005.
His philosophy is that choreography can't be taught per se. speaking about, and analysing through constructive dialogue, and what emerges in the studio during the creation of a work, is what drives the process which Kelemenis and Mantsoe have been implementing.
The culmination of these exchanges will be shown on Saturday when four pieces will be shown at the Factory. Underpinning this initiative is another important strand - the funding partnerships.
Not only have highly independent institutions The Dance Factory, MIDM, Dance Forum/ Dance Space and Vuyani Dance Theatre pooled their energies and resources, but the National Arts Council and other sponsors have come to this French government- initiated party.
As one exhilarated dancer-choreographer noted: "We are in unknown territories." That's what geography is all about.
- There are free public Crossings events at the Factory this week at 7.30pm.
Tonight: Video presentations about the relationship between dance and music followed by a discussion between Michel Kelemenis, Vincent Mantsoe, Eva Kroniger and James Webb.
Tomorrow: Preview of Crossings's works-in-progress.
Thursday: Video presentations about the relationship between staging and lighting followed by a discussion between Floriaan Ganzevoort, Mantsoe and Kelemenis.
Friday: Workshop participants talk about their careers. Saturday: A showing of works created during the residency. Booking is essential for this session. RSVP: [email protected] or call 011 836 0561.