-
Photo Via Katlehong Dance © Christian Ganet
-
Photo Via Katlehong Dance © Christian Ganet
-
Photo Via Katlehong Dance © Christian Ganet
Founded in 1992 in Johannesburg, Via Katlehong Dance takes its name from Katlehong township, a disadvantaged neighbourhood where the protest culture of Pantsula was born. Like hip-hop, it has its roots in the street. In the 1990s, as a multi-ethnic South Africa slowly took shape, Via Katlehong Dance continued the protest struggle through shows and performances that combined the acrobatic dance movements of Pantsula and gumboot, named after the rubber boots that miners wore and that they struck with their hands as they danced.
For Via Kanana, the company invited the great South African creator Gregory Maqoma—head choreographer for the 2010 FIFA World Cup kick-off concert—to combine the communicative energy of Via Katlehong Dance with his physical language in search of humanity and spirituality.
A choral piece, luminous and filled with hope!
IN ADDITION TO THE FILM
Pantsula & the Promised Land
The documentary Pantsula & the Promised Land is an incursion into the world of South African dance, pantsula, and into the creative process of Via Kanana by Via Katlehong Dance. With the testimonies of company director Buru Mohlabane, choreographer Gregory Maqoma and performer Julia Burnham.
Duration: 20 min.
Produced by Filigrane Archives
This DIGIDANCE webcast is an initiative of Centre national des Arts (Ottawa), DanceHouse (Vancouver), Danse Danse (Montréal) and Harbourfront Centre (Toronto).
WEBCAST PERFORMANCE
ON DEMAND
By buying a ticket you obtain a link giving you access to streaming between February 16 and March 6, 2022 at the time of your choosing.
Tickets start at $16.00
Dancer, choreographer and teacher, Gregory Maqoma is considered to be one of the most talented artists of the new generation in South Africa. Born in Johannesburg in 1973, he began his career with Moving into Dance, a company founded by Sylvia Glasser, an artist who has done much to promote exchange and dialogue between artists from different cultures.
In 1994, his first creation for the company won the FNB Vita Pick of the...
Read more about Gregory MaqomaBuru Isaac Mohlabane is Creative Artistic Director and Co-Director of Via Katlehong Dance. He was born in 1983 in Johannesburg, in the Katlehong Township, and raised by a single mother. From an early age he involved himself in many different activities in his community participating in club soccer and school athletics. In 1996 he joined the company Via Katlehong Dance to learn the dance discipline and began performing in 19...
Read more about Buru Isaac MohlabaneFounded in 1992, the Company takes its name from the township of Katlehong in the East Rand (Johannesburg), one of the deprived neighborhoods where the protestant Pantsula culture was born. In all its shows, the company Via Katlehong Dance defends the Pantsula culture from which it comes.
In the 1960s and 1970s, under the apartheid regime in South Africa, Black rural populations were displaced to the big cities and regroupe...
Read more about Via Katlehong DanceChoregrapher: Gregory Maqoma
Project director: Buru Mohlabane
Music composer: Samuel Makhathade Khabane
Lighting designer: Oliver Hauser of/de Hauser Lighting Design
Videographer: Jurgen Meekel
Costumes: DarkDindie Styling Concepts
Text: Keynote speech by Prof. PLO Lumumba at the 3rd Anti-Corruption Convention (December 2, 2013, Hotel Africana, Kampala, Uganda) /Discours du Prof. PLO Lumumba à la 3ième Convention Anti-Corruption (2 décembre 2013, Hotel Africana, Kampala, Ouganda)
Black and white photographs: David Goldblatt Interprètes : Tshepo Nchabeleng, Thato Qofela, Andile Nhlapo, Tshepo Mohlabane, Teboho Molelekeng, Abel Vilakazi, Julia Burnham, Lenela Laballo
Lighting technician: Oliver Hauser
Production manager: Steven Mpiyakhe Faleni
Administration and production in France: Damien Valette Assistance et coordination en France : Louise Bailly Production : Damien Valette Production
Coproduction: Via Katlehong Dance, Maison de la Danse de Lyon, La Villette, Paris, Châteauvallon, Scène nationale
Thanks to: The Centre for the Less Good Idea, Maboneng, Johannesburg, fouded by William Kentridge
Première : November 6, 2017, Maison de la Danse (Lyon)
Via Kanana recording was filmed between November 6-10, 2017 at Maison de la Danse (Lyon).
