Cape Town’s finest contemporary dancer heads to Jozi

It is less than one week to the opening of Dance Umbrella, and a Cape Town-based performer and choreographer is excited to show off his new work.

Sifiso Kwenyama, artistic director at Jazzart Dance Theatre, began his career with the establishment in 1992 and has since cemented his path in the performing arts.

While in Johannesburg, Kwenyama created dance works for Tshwane University of Technology, Flatfoot Dance Company, Ballet Theatre Afrikan, Tshwane Dance Theatre and Moving into Dance Mophatong, where he worked as a company manager for three years.

Now he’s back in Cape Town but will, however, return to Johannesburg for the 29th edition of the dance festival, Dance Umbrella, and he’s answered City Buzz’s questions.

Q How long have you been performing at Dance Umbrella?

A As a performer, I think four times and as a choreographer, I’ve presented five works.

Q What does it mean to be at Dance Umbrella this year?

A For me it’s exciting since I am now with the Jazzart Dance Theatre. Jazzart has not been to the festival for the past five years. After taking over Jazzart as artistic director in 2015, it’s been my dream to remind the Johannesburg community and dance lovers at large that Jazzart still flies the flag high as one of the leading African contemporary dance companies in the country.

Q Tell us about Space?

A This work highlights our spiritual connection to a space we once occupied. We long for this unrestricted space which allowed us freedom to be ourselves. This 30-minute work called Space focuses on land issues as in forced removals and how it affected our people – if it did. We are looking at whether people are happy where they live and if not why they are not being vocal about it. I know that due to forced removals, they had to adjust and learn to love their new environment and the areas they’re in. However, that does not necessarily mean they are comfortable where they are.

Q What do you hope for the response to be?

A I hope this work will spark a debate among artists. Dance is a language we [dancers] understand and it is very important because it’s a physical language that communicates with the soul and emotions.

Read: The Worker’s Museum comes alive for Dance Umbrella