Infecting The City of Nelspruit

NESLPRUIT – Vibrant and unexpected, Infecting the City is one of the most extraordinary free annual public arts festivals on the African continent. During the festival which will take place on January 16 and 17 in the city's centre, Nelspruit will become the backdrop and stage to a mesmerising showcase of live culture across artistic disciplines which include dance, song, poetry and theatre.

Audiences will have the chance to engage with 17 local and national artists integrating with the public spaces in a new and unusual form.

Tanner Methvin, executive director of The Africa Centre says, “It is an extremely exciting challenge to combine local and national artists to forge a programme that is uniquely Nelspruit. Audiences may think that they have seen some of the artists on the programme, but we have a treat in store for them. Infecting the City is more than an arts festival, it is an opportunity to engage with public spaces in a way that audiences may not have done before.

“We have designed a route and programme for audiences to discover, define and experience their environments in a unique and interactive way.”

Sibusiso Xaba, director general at the Department of Arts and Culture says, “As we count down towards the celebration of 20 years of democracy and freedom, we view festivals such as Infecting the City as platforms that reflect our democracy and freedom. This ability to have self-expression is an important part of the way in which South Africans should celebrate from now until April. Public arts festivals like these are vital in stimulating local economies, as they contribute to the Mzansi Golden Economy strategy, through the creative industries and in bringing cities such as Nelspruit to life.

“They provide more than the obvious benefit of allowing access to culture that might not otherwise be accessible. They give the general public a chance to interact with their city in new ways and to share that experience with others. In the same way, artists are challenged to create pieces to engage very diverse audiences. Let’s celebrate the 20 years of democracy and freedom through the arts.”

Infecting the City has been designed so that audiences can follow the routes as planned and outlined in the programme or pop in and out during the course of the day. The performances that take place in the morning will be repeated in the afternoon on both days.

Thursday January 16, from 09:00 to 13:00 and 14:00 to 18:00, programme 1

1. The Promenade

The Giant Puppets appear along the various passages of the Promenade. They will lead you to the parking area. Here local poet and performer, Samkela Stamper begins the programme by reciting one of her own poems. The ancient sounds and voices of SK Manda’s traditional dance group pierce the air and give way to vibrant song and dance followed by a choreographed routine to recorded music. This is an unusual dance company from Mpumalanga which combines traditional dance with acrobatic work and fire-eating. Next, try to spot camouflaged local singer Chocolate (Enock Eddy Mamba) performing his medley of ballads and love songs.

This will be followed by Cape Town’s Mandisi Shindo who will present Sacrifice. Using creative imagery, two men engage in a public battle of tradition, truth and reconciliation. The work is accompanied by traditional singing and classical opera. It takes its main metaphor, a captured bull, ready for slaughter, drawing on the vulnerability and tactics of the animal before the traditional Xhosa slaughtering ritual takes place. The actual killing is not the end but the beginning of the real battle. Victory brings little relief or reward as the force of deeper feelings of guilt and regret overcome and threaten to annihilate.

Changing the mood completely will be another performance by the company led by SK Manda. This is a more modern piece called Hip Culture. Samkela Stamper comes back with another poem and introduces a full performance by all the characters of the Giant Puppets, with individual larger-than-life puppets and rousing musicians.

They then lead you in the direction of the taxi rank. On the way there you will see Simon Max Bannister’s giant giraffes, a sculpture called Journey. Bannister, who hails from Cape Town created these five giraffes out of timber, to stand 4,5 metres tall and weigh 30 kilograms each. You will also come across the Madudula Art Project with comedy performed by a range of characters through dance and mime.

2. The taxi rank

Performance here opens with the vigorous and vivid dance rhythms of Inkwazi, a highly versatile traditional dance company.

Expect a combination of recorded music and live percussion accompaniment. The suited and painted gospel singer Sipho Langa and his group of singers appear to perform unique renditions of gospel songs.

3. The bus terminal

Samkela Stamper begins with one of her poems that starts a dance called Coming Home, which deals with travelling, an appropriate theme for the terminal. It is a moving emotional work about waiting for your loved ones to get home. It is choreographed by Ntombi Gasa and features Siyabonga Mhlonga from the Siwela Sonke Dance Theatre in KwaZulu-Natal and members of the Inkwazi Traditional Dance Group.

This performance is followed by a solo, duet and trio dance featuring the award-winning IKAPA Dance Company from Cape Town. It creates its own choreography out of a combination of traditional African dance forms, classical ballet and contemporary dance. Its work tells stories that are moving and accessible. Vigorous and vivid dance rhythms are then again performed by Inkwazi, in their rousing finale which will end this programme.

Friday January 17 from 09:00 to 13:00 and 14:00 to 18:00, programme 2

1. Post office

The morning kicks off with Cape Town’s Mandisi Shindo. He has choreographed a dance work to classical music and traditional singing called The Widow. A provocative contemporary dance theatre work performed by five women will then follow. It ultimately celebrates the beauty and strength of a woman. This characteristically deploys Shindo’s trademark combination of traditional and modern music, dance, sounds, poetry and architecture to communicate stirring stories.

A poem by local poet, Patience Ndhlovu taking off from the themes of the previous work is read. The Giant Puppets of the Giant Match Association will escort you the next venue.

2. Promenade Shopping Centre

Where body-painted figures blend with the roots of the trees and the concrete to create an other-worldly atmosphere. The Giant Puppets lead and pass Simon Max Bannister’s giraffes which appear again and take you to the square in front of Foschini.

3. Foschini

Rose Maliyane leads a subtle and elegant traditional dance accompanied by singing. Also dressed to dazzle, the singer Indlovukazi (Princess Nkuna) performs one of several songs that she will sing on this route. An outstanding performer, her repertoire extends from traditional to gospel and jazz.

Complementing her voice will be the haunting voices of the popular isicathimiya group called Good News. They will work with the architecture of the building while going through their deft moves and singing their powerful a capella compositions. The isicathimiya group leads us on to the next venue to meet the powerful traditional dance company, Inqaba Cultural Group, led by Adam Mthethwa.

4. Absa Square

The Inqaba Cultural Group uses traditional Swazi dance to create an atmosphere of celebration and strength. They will also present a powerful marimba interlude. In contrast the Cape Town-based IKAPA Dance Company presents a contemporary dance work using the architectural background as a backdrop, while a powerful and entertaining pantsula dance work called Escalating Pantsulas, choreographed by KwaZulu-Natal’s Mxolisi Nkomonde, bursts into being. Next is December Maseko’s dance company, Bayeza African Cultural Activities. Performing unique variations of traditional Zulu dance forms, the technically superior dances take place in a display of athletic virtuosity.

The programme ends with all the dance companies and styles coming together, African and European, classical and contemporary in a composite work performed to the stirring composition, Bolero by Ravel.

Mbombela’s CBD is transformed into a vibrant and innovative outdoor venue for two days, where art is free and accessible to everyone. Our country and continent are confronting various issues that are both real and imagined. These include access to employment, education, health care, housing, water, electricity and sanitation. The complexity of addressing these issues is not only about confronting the facts, but also the fiction. Looking at the continent from the outside or from within, the mainstream messages that define it rarely articulate the subtlety and nuance of its people or their existence. The Africa Centre's purpose is to create a platform for exploring contemporary Pan-African artistic and cultural practise as a catalyst for social change.