Pop: Dancing a worn path

It may seem trite to state that realising you’re gay is not easy. Sexual attraction begins to bloom in preadolescence, which is fraught enough for the most heterosexual person, as hormones start coursing through the blood, seemingly hijacking the mind and body.

Thanks to the weight of expectations within our predominantly homophobic patriarchal society, this vulnerable period is made extensively more challenging for boys becoming aware they are sexually attracted to their own gender.

The homophobic threats, disparagement and moral proselytising absorbed while still a child can lead to this negativity being internalised, resulting in higher rates of depression, shame, and even suicide. It also explains why, being rejected by established societal and familial networks, gay men often form strong networks within the LGBTQIA community.

In 2022, this is not a new story, having been documented in academia and the arts, with gay characters now not uncommon in popular media. Yet homophobia still prevalent throughout the world, even outlawed in scores of countries, it is possibly why dancers Thamsanqa Majela and Matthieu Nieto chose to tell this story in Pop, a South African-French collaboration appearing on the National Arts Festival’s curated programme.

The story of surviving homophobic abuse, the discovery of love and an accepting community, the loss of that love, seeking it again in all the wrong places, and the resultant disillusionment is well trod by theatrical productions. There is nothing new in the plot. However, Majela and Nieto’s presentation through movement and text – mostly narrated via recording – is what gives the production its strength.

The use of projection, so often a distraction in the theatre, here becomes the set in the bare Rhodes Box, as Majela and Nieto dance within it, rather than it being a mere backdrop or means of illustration. Thus the images are suitably abstract, beginning with the white-on-black blown-ink patterns shifting and moving across the floor and wall, evocative of neural pathways of the kind being created during the ever-new world of childhood and adolescence.

Initially tentative, subdued, their movement gains energy as they shift into the bullying and beatings, tender yet firm as love and lust take hold.

The ecstacy of that love and acceptance seems to go on rather long though. Rather mediocre dancing to a popular disco tune only holds one’s attention for so long, unless you’re dancing along, which we aren’t. Our attention shifts back when this comes to an end, holding us with increasing intensity to the somewhat frenetic, unsettling denouement.

Together with superb lighting, innovative use of projection, and storytelling through adroit movement, Pop deserves its place on the festival’s curated programme but is not likely to be a new high-water mark within its genre.

Pop is showing at the Rhodes Box at the National Arts festival at 8 tonight, with the last show at 12 tomorrow (Sat 25 June).

Credits:

Choreography, Performance, Texts: Thamsanqa Majela and Matthieu Nieto
Music: Chesney Palmer
Lighting Design, Digital Scenography, Video Mapping: Mandla Mtshali
Digital Animation: Balekane Legoabe
Photographer: Muzeza Damas
Stylist: Vaazi