{"id":2434,"date":"2017-09-24T10:32:03","date_gmt":"2017-09-24T08:32:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/?p=2434"},"modified":"2017-09-24T10:32:03","modified_gmt":"2017-09-24T08:32:03","slug":"abangabonwa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/?p=2434","title":{"rendered":"Abangabonwa (The Unseen): Go, See"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Amykay Klaasen in Abangabonwa. Photo by Oscar O Ryan.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rousing drumming and the mbira\u2019s twanging fills the hazy air. A faint yet distinct burning smell lingers. Bodies pulsate. Swift fling. Sharp grab. Resist. Rebound. Relentless undulation.<\/p>\n

A trance state washes down from the stage into the auditorium. These aren\u2019t dancers performing rehearsed moves. They are people. Being, living. Sharing their concerns, their pride, their worries and hopes. I find my head bopping and feet drumming along. I\u2019m absorbed.<\/p>\n

Melding African traditional and ritual dance, and contemporary dance, choreographer Mzokuthula Gasa and the cast make these forms fluidly, boldly create a beautiful and special movement vocabulary. Abangabonwa<\/em> is affecting and stimulating but so entrancing I didn\u2019t want it to end.<\/p>\n

Look to the art if you want to understand what\u2019s happening in the world. What content fills our stages? Which themes recur?<\/p>\n

Township life is Abangabonwa<\/em>\u2019s focus. We see five people sitting on buckets, we hear rain dripping through leaking roofs. We see one young man rolling a big joint, crushing and sprinkling something extra on top. We see another man desperate for something to smoke, powerless to the dealer figure who refuses him because his pockets are empty.<\/p>\n

We see two women, robot-like they\u2019re speed walking \u2013 racing to work, or in competition\u2026 we\u2019re not sure, but their speeding movements tilt them off axis, they recoil until they almost fall again. Their environment dictates where their bodies can and do go.<\/p>\n

This presentation of daily township life shifts, transforms into spiritual, ritual scenes. Represented by the traditional fly whisks they hold, a group of elders and leaders perform ceremonial dances. The intensity builds. The five people from before are enveloped by this group of elders who with their dancing, appear to be battling and admonishing whatever ills have befallen these young people who grasp at their heads, twitching, and tossing their arms backwards in twisted positions.<\/p>\n

Is it being suggested that a return to the old ways, the traditional cultures, is a way to cure the social problems urbanisation and the modern world have caused? It seems so. And as a non-city dweller I advocate this message too. Yet Gasa and the Sibonelo Dance Project don\u2019t \u2018show\u2019 this is the<\/em>\u00a0solution \u2013 they know it\u2019s not as simple as that.<\/p>\n

Abangabonwa<\/em> was created from the cast\u2019s personal reflections on township life. From feelings of being \u2018unheard and unseen\u2019. But there is media coverage, no? And if you browse the Cape Town\u00a0Fringe programme, it\u2019s noticeable how many theatre works are \u2018about\u2019 township life, issues and struggles.<\/p>\n

So why do\u00a0these artists feel no one\u2019s paying attention? Because nothing ever changes, perhaps. And yet, we know. It would be easier to have never known, let ignorance be bliss. But we aren\u2019t ignorant. You can\u2019t live in South Africa and not be aware. Looking to our government, our society, those of us who don\u2019t live in a township\u2026 and knowing we know: either we\u2019re ignoring this part of our country or deeming it unimportant to look and listen. Either option is poisonous to our country\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

So, go and see Abangabonwa<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Abangabonwa (The Unseen) is next on tonight 24 September at 18.00 and tomorrow 25 September at 15.00. Bookings and more information (and a video)\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rousing drumming and the mbira\u2019s twanging fills the hazy air. A faint yet distinct burning smell lingers. Bodies pulsate. Swift fling. Sharp grab. Resist. Rebound. Relentless undulation. A trance state … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2436,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[2,10],"tags":[33,152,564,749],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2434"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2434\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}