The Grahamstown National Arts Festival has began. I thought it only fitting to start my own chronicles of this year’s event by offering a review of a show named “Chronicles”. (All pun intended ;-))
Chronicles is actually a student production but you would be forgiven if you thought otherwise. It is a contemporary dance piece by Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) chronicling various emotions that we all share as human beings. There was love, passion, sadness, joy and everything else in between that carries the hope and courage to live yet another day.
The first piece, Wallflower Diaries, was about a girl, I imagine about my age, who has read enough romantic novels to last her a lifetime but is still yet to find love. You see the young playful side to her as she evolves to a sexy and sensual being holding on to hope that her perfect other will eventually come. The music together with the sexy black numbers helped a lot in terms of appreciating this evolution. If not that, I guess it must be that I am sold to the idea that French and Spanish music is synonymous with love, passion and all that is sexy :-). One important thing to mention is that there was realism even though the girl was waiting for her perfect other to come. The girl was under no illusion that the ‘tall dark and handsome’ type of a guy exists as they do in novels. This idea was portrayed beautifully by tearing out pages and showing defiance to anyone who might dare suggest lowering one’s standards/expectations! (I am not sure how many could relate to this but I could precisely because I am at that age where others seem to think my being single means I am delusional in my expectations of the perfect guy and yet I expect three things: 1. he must be the right guy for me; 2. he must be the right guy for me and 3. he must be the right guy for me.)
The second piece, I think it was titled Death of Dreams or Memories. This piece was very profound. It was about letting go of old dreams, mourning them and being totally liberated to pursue what the present and future have to offer. Again the music was also instrumental in helping to convey the message. Personally, it took the music together with the dance to fully appreciate that tentativeness that one has after experiencing loss and disappointment. I am talking about that slow urge to move on with life but not quite knowing what and where to go. Then discovering later that you can find liberation in the decision that you made (right or wrong) and eventually you might just learn to be content for who you are not who you thought you might be. As I said, this I found to be a profound piece and because of it I understood why people say life is a dance.
The third and last piece of the chronicles was titled English for Immigrants. It was about loyalty. Watching it, I got reminded of an old TV show called ‘mind your language’. The piece also invoked the imagery of miners doing the gumboot dance, yet the actual dance that was being performed was very different. I found this very interesting because this created a familiar connection to how song and dance are used by immigrants to maintain focus as they work towards a better future for them and those left behind. This focus ultimately is what breeds loyalty that is so strong that elements of patriotism also come to the fore.
To finish off my posting, Chronicles is certainly a must watch performance. It will remind you that dancing through what life has to offer is better than simply sitting it out!