Gregory Maqoma’s nine dancers and four singers give physical form to the poetic writing of Zakes Mda, transitioning from majestic immobility to a collective energy that brings Ravel’s Bolero from the deep. He has the strength to deal with painful themes without pathos but with matchless vitality and sensitivity. Maqoma often works alongside Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Akram Khan, Dada Masilo and William Kentridge, setting the stage alight with his melodic approach to dance and his operatic vision of group work. Here, with “isicathamiya” (a capella singing performed by South African Zulus), he presents a thrilling epic and a message of hope: that the fear of death inherent in humanity can be vanquished.
Performance presented in collaboration with the Holland Festival
