JOMBA! celebrates the many cultures of Africa as the dance festival makes a comeback after two years.


After a two-year break, JOMBA!, perhaps the greatest and most renowned dance festival in Africa, is returning at UKZN’s Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre in KwaZulu-Natal.

The festival will include the first complete live performance of JOMBA! since the Covid epidemic, with artists and performers from Mozambique, Switzerland, Reunion Island, India, and, of course, South Africa.

According to artistic director and curator Dr. Lliane Loots, “We are happy and glad to be presenting our much-loved festival, live and in-person while maintaining certain works and activities online to enable those not able to come.”

“One of the things we’ve really lost with Covid is mingling with one another; meeting in the foyer, seeing individuals you haven’t seen in a while, chatting to other dancers, seeing people trade, artists connecting with one another, simply an affirmation of community,” said the performer.

“And I’m hoping that we can rekindle that idea of a dancing community that is creative.”

The 24th annual JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience presents 13 days of unparalleled world-class contemporary dance experiences under the subject “the (im)possibility of home.”

“This year, via the subject, we set out to examine a number of dance works that negotiate tradition, culture, nostalgia, and identity, which investigate a feeling of belonging and how this endures, evolves, and alters through time – and what a time (both local and global) for this moment!”

Loots discussed a few of the difficulties the dance and theater community faced during the last two years.

“Dance is not a type of art that can be stopped and then picked back up. You must put in a lot of effort every day if you want to be a dancer. If I may use that phrase, there has been quite a bit of devastation. Artists have vanished, and dancers who couldn’t support their profession have taken other jobs.

The realization that artists have had to make other decisions is also incredibly distressing. There has been a loss in actuality. With the live festival, I’m hoping we can reignite that fire and, ideally, expand as well.

Mamela Nyamza and Nelisiwe Xaba from South Africa, as well as Edna Jaime from Mozambique, are this year’s event’s headliners.

Edna Jaime. Picture: John Hogg

Choreographer, performer and dance teacher Vincent Sekwati Mantsoe will be honoured as the 2022 JOMBA! Legacy Artist.

We can think of no better way to honor this magnificent figure in South Africa’s historical dance trajectory than to rejoice with him as his career as a dancer and choreographer enters its 30th year this year.

A live performance of Mantsoe’s brand-new solo piece “Koma” will be presented, along with a screening of his short dance film “CUT (part 1),” which was created during the lockdown, his two-year process of working with Durban’s Flatfoot Dance Company, and the arduous process of creating “CUT (part 2),” which will make its festival debut.

Additionally, Mantsoe will conduct a masterclass.

Vincent Sekwati Mantsoe>. Picture: Val Adamson

Fana Tshabalala, the 2019 JOMBA! Mellon Artist in Residence, will display “Zann,” his most recent solo piece, which he started working on when he was a resident.

The event will include the world premieres of three brand-new pieces by Durban choreographers Sandile Mkhize, Tegan Peacock, and Pavishen Paideya.

Grants were awarded to the group to support the development of new regional works on the JOMBA! Edge-mentored platform.

Sandile Mkhize. Picture: Val Adamson

In addition to the powerhouse of performances, the festival will also host workshops, after-performance Q&As, panel discussions, virtual screen dance and the return of the JOMBA! youth dance platform that continues to support the growth of Durban’s young dance communities.

For the full programme and more information on the festival visit the website.

JOMBA! 2022 kicks off on August 30 and will run until September 11.

As the country prepares to celebrate Heritage Day on September 24, we look at theatre productions across the country that recognise and celebrate our diverse African cultures.

Gontse Ntshegang and Andre Lotter. Picture: The Market Theatre

The Parrot Woman (The Market Theatre)

South Africa’s leading contemporary playwright and director Charles Fourie adapts “The Parrot Woman” to bring to life a part of history that is seldom told; that many black South Africans were also incarcerated in concentration camps during the Anglo-Boer war in 1901.

Transferred to a concentration camp, she is held captive in a cage and guarded by the unwilling British soldier who seeks the truth surrounding the murders, in a game of ritual and escapism.

What is disclosed in the touching end sheds light on the ravaging effects of war and sees the two characters finding solace in each other’s pain and loss.

Date: Currently on until September 26.

Chi Mhende and Paul Slabolepszy. Picture: Meghan McCabe

Paul Slabolepszy’s Fordsburg’s Finest (Theatre On The Bay)

Starring Paul Slabolepszy and Chi Mhende, “Fordsburg’s Finest” follows the tale of two people who, having long walked on firm ground, find that they cannot take its firmness for granted.

Set in 1996, the play centres on a New York librarian who decides it is time to return to her South African roots. Arriving at 74 Pioneer Street in Fordsburg and clutching an out-of-date, faded street map, she is sad to find the homestead is no longer there. In its place is a rundown used-car lot owned by a convivial middle-aged white South African who is also an ex-police reservist.

Date: Currently on until September 10.

‘Hostel Lights’ cast. Picture: Imameleng Masitha.

Baxter Zabalaza Theatre Festival’s Finest (Baxter)

“Hostel Lights” and “Back to Ashes” are the two winning productions selected as the Baxter Zabalaza Theatre Festival’s Finest of the Fest earlier this year.

They were selected as the best to emerge from the 13th annual festival in April, for their powerful themes and excellence in script writing, performances, direction and overall presentation, said Mdu Kweyama, the artistic director of the Baxter Zabalaza Theatre Festival.

“The themes they cover are those that audiences can resonate with and, sadly, in many instances, is a daily reality for many South Africans. ‘Hostel Lights’ speaks to loyalty and friendship, while ‘Back to Ashes’ addresses the ever-relevant topic of gender-based violence,” Kweyama said.

Date: September 3 to 17.


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