ZOO and CulturArte celebrate their 20th anniversary with Southern Africa tour

In addition to being Pro Helvetia Johannesburg’s 20th year anniversary, 2018 marks the 20th year anniversary of both Thomas Hauert ’s company ZOO, and Panaibra Gabrielle Canda’s CulturArte.  In 2010, the Pro Helvetia Liaison office, at that point located in Cape Town, supported Há Mais and Mafalala’s South African tour.  This year, the Pro Helvetia supports the presenting of both works in Mozambique and South Africa.

Hà Mais
Há mais (meaning “There’s more”) was created in 2002 by Thomas Hauert with five Mozambique dancers, who today represent the cream of Mozambique’s contemporary dance scene. The work is the result of an encounter between traditional Mozambican dance and contemporary dance from an occidental context. Hauert and the dancers chose twelve traditional dances, distilled from them their basic motifs and incorporated them into a new entity.

During the performance, this choreographic phrase is modified by the interaction with time, movement and space.  Leaving significant space for structured improvisation, the result is a wide variety of movements performed with staggering virtuosity. The Mozambican dance motifs are set alongside short musical passages by Stravinsky, most of which refer to old European dance forms.

In 1998, Hauert formed his own company ZOO, which is based in Brussels and has created more a dozen pieces, including Cows in Space, Verosimile, Modify, Walking

Oscar, Accords and MONO which have toured all over the world. Outside the context

of ZOO, he has created pieces for P.A.R.T.S., the Zurich Ballet, Toronto Dance Theatre and Candoco Dance Company. Hauert is the academic director of the new bachelor degree in contemporary dance at the school La Manufacture in Lausanne since 2014.

Mafalala

This creation by Panaibra Canda is inspired by Mozambican society, specifically Mafalala – one of the first suburbs that emerged around Maputo, solely inhabited by black Mozambicans who arrived from the countryside to work in what was then called Lourenço Marques, while Lourenço Marques was inhabited by white Portuguese.

After the country’s independence, Lourenço Marques, today the city of Maputo, became the face of Mafalala, with mixture of cultures, people and ways of life.  In the work Mafalala, performed by four dancers and a saxophonist, the choreographer examines ways of living, habits and costumes of this suburb to create a unique vocabulary and dance language using ordinary utility objects that can be found in the streets of Maputo as well as tapping into the city’s collective memory.

Born in Maputo, Panaibra  trained in theatre, music and dance, studying with Vera Mantero (Portugal), Frans Poelstra (Netherlands), Meg Stuart (US/Belgium) and Reggie Wilson (US).  In 1998 he founded CulturArte, an institution that provides support for artistic development and has developed artistic projects including creations, performances, training programmes and circuits for dance projects and local Mozambican artists.  In 2007 (IN)DEPENDENCE, an inclusive dance project, was launched.  As a leader in the African contemporary dance scene, Panaibra has been actively developing works and projects with leading choreographers in Africa, Europe, Latin and North America.

Credits

Há Mais

Choreography: Thomas Hauert

Dancers:

Benedito Cossa, Sónia Janete Melapha-Metheba, Horácio Macuacua, Domingos Bié, Osvaldo Passirivo, José Marcelino Jalane

Musician: Orlanda da Conceição

Music by: Igor Stravinsky

Light Design: Caldino Alberto

Costumes: Lúcia and Edmundo

Executive Production: Panaibra Gabriel Canda

Special thanks to Carlitos and Riina Saastamoinen | the Project Alma Txina – an initiative of Danças na Cidade and CulturArte, integrated in the long-term exchange program Dançar o que é Nosso

Coproduction ZOO, Africalia and Départs, in partnership with the Centro Cultural Franco-Moçambicano

Thanks to Companhia Nacional de Canto e Dança – Moçambique, Escola Nacional de Dança – Maputo

DURATION: 25 min

Mafalala

Choreography:
Panaibra Gabriel Canda

Dancers:
Domingos Bié, Horácio Macuacua, Sónia Janete Melapha-Metheba, Benedito Cossa, Osvaldo Passirivo, José Marcelino Jalane

Musician:
Orlando da Conceição

Music:
Creation from: Take that train by Bill Tracorn and Duke Ellington, Billie’s Bounce and Au Privave by Charles Parker, Mafalala by Fane Fumo, Dunia by Unce Ciketekete, Y male mune by Wazimbo

Light Design: Quito Tembe

Light Design: Caldino Alberto

Costumes: Dona Lúcia

Executive Production: CulturArte