{"id":447,"date":"2015-07-03T23:00:18","date_gmt":"2015-07-03T21:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/?p=447"},"modified":"2015-07-03T23:00:18","modified_gmt":"2015-07-03T21:00:18","slug":"unmute-strikes-a-conversation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/?p=447","title":{"rendered":"Unmute strikes a conversation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Unmute<\/em>, choreographed by Andile Vellem, is a production by Unmute Dance Company,\u00a0whose vision is to inspire inclusion of people with disabilities within society through the arts. Important issues and topics are raised and interrogated in Unmute<\/em>\u2026 but I\u2019m not sure I entirely enjoyed it… Others have raved about the production here<\/a> and here<\/a>. And I agree with much of what they\u2019ve written.<\/p>\n

I agree that the marginalisation the production addresses is essential to the South African dialogue we need to be having. Daily. It\u2019s important to address problems in communication. It\u2019s important to interrogate notions of \u201cnormalcy\u201d and the limitations imposed on South African people every day because of where or how they don\u2019t \u201cfit\u201d.<\/p>\n

Unmute<\/em> addresses negotiation, in public and private spaces. And nothing could be more important in South Africa’s current context. The choreography highlights how to attempt new ways, new solutions, new offers, new acceptance\u2026 the dancers demarcate their spaces and decide when to welcome someone in, or when a shift in place is required to accommodate someone else.<\/p>\n

Absence is important in Unmute<\/em> too: absence of limb; absence of sound. And in South Africa\u2026 absence of facilities that equalise and stabilise the difference between all the different types of bodies.<\/p>\n

Yet\u2026 the work didn\u2019t hit many nerves for me. The performers work incredibly hard. The choreography is\u00a0challenging and seems to explore all the possibilities for dancing on, in, with and around a wheelchair \u2013 this is<\/em>\u00a0impressive. But somehow the emotional connection to the movement remains one-dimensional and the overall rhythmic phrasing doesn\u2019t fluctuate enough to allow for truly impactful moments.<\/p>\n

Unmute<\/em> has me thinking about the preconceived \u2018standards\u2019 of what dance is, and who can dance? Contemporary dance has long challenged the criteria for what a dancer can be, and Unmute<\/em> works to further disrupt these criteria. But to approach this work without the same expectations as other dance works would be unfair to the artists involved. As Unmute<\/em> proposes, differences in body, in physical ability, should not be reason to treat any one differently.<\/p>\n

I am glad my perspective on South African contemporary dance has been broadened and\u00a0festival audiences could benefit from a bit more of that.<\/p>\n

– Sarah Roberson<\/strong><\/p>\n

Unmute is performed by\u00a0Andile Vellem, Nadine Mckenzie, Zama Sonjica, Yaseen Manuel.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> for production info. Unmute is on tomorrow 04 July @ 10am @ the Gymnasium.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unmute, choreographed by Andile Vellem, is a production by Unmute Dance Company,\u00a0whose vision is to inspire inclusion of people with disabilities within society through the arts. Important issues and topics … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[10],"tags":[68,569,577,886,935,941],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=447"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecritter.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}