Arts writer
IKAPA Dance Theatre is presenting the first-ever annual Cape Town international dance festival , Town & Township. Supported by the Artscape Theatre Centre, Maboneng Township Arts Experience Festival and Battery Dance, this display of dance from around the globe will take place from November 28 to December 3 at Artscape and in Gugulethu NY 147–NY 144.
The festival will bring together 12 of the world’s elite companies from SA, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, US, China, India and Spain, and is the result of a three-year collaboration between iKapa Dance Theatre and the New York-based Battery Dance Company.
In line with their shared vision, the festival aims to help cultivate an outstanding, culturally diverse culture sector that contributes to a physically healthy, creatively inspired and socially empowered society.
Says Theo Ndindwa, Director of iKapa and Artistic Director for the event, “The festival aims to promote the development of South African Arts and Culture and inspire a connection between people from culturally diverse backgrounds. With its geography bearing witness to its deeply divided past, Cape Town is ideally positioned to help us realise this goal by enabling us to cross over these physically and psychologically ingrained divides, providing invitations to all communities to share experiences that entertain the spirit and inspire the soul.”
Siphiwe Ngwenya, Executive Director of Maboneng Arts Township Experience adds, “South Africa has a limited supply of arts platforms that cross cultural and socio-economic barriers, with the result that international dance productions are rarely seen by disadvantaged communities. This year’s theme, Town & Township, seeks to redress this imbalance and bring world-class performances to previously unexposed audiences.”
The meticulously curated programme of works will be complemented by a series of workshops, film screenings, photo and art exhibitions, as well as the Maboneng Township Arts Experience Festival, a full-day creative and cultural encounter which will turn outdoor spaces in Gugulethu into performance districts.
l Tickets: 0861 915 8000. For the full programme of events: www.ika padancetheatre.co.za and www.maboneng.com