Moving into Dance Mophatong’s 21st anniversary celebration to culminate this November

Last edited: October 29, 2012

Posted by Business and Arts South Africa

As part of MIDM’s (Moving into Dance Mophatong) 21 year celebration in full-time vocational training, the dance company has been staging some stunning performances throughout the year.

The performances are funded by the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund, Rand Merchant Bank, Business Arts South Africa, Rand Water Foundation, Dancing for the Children, National Arts Council bursaries, the Arts and Culture Trust with Nedbank Arts Affinity and the City of Johannesburg.

Now, as the year comes to an end so MIDM’s anniversary celebration will culminate in three weeks of explosive dance pieces simply titled 21, at the Dance Factory in Newtown, Johannesburg, from Saturday, 17 November to Sunday, 2 December.

The final event will also feature a new work by one of South Africa’s most acclaimed creative artists, Robyn Orlin, when she collaborates with the MIDM dance company to stage her new work, Beauty Remained. Orlin’s piece will open the MIDM celebration programme 21 at the Dance Factory on Wednesday, 21 November with performances from Thursday, 22 November to Saturday, 24 November at 19:30 and on Sunday, 25 November at 14:00.

Beauty Remained will see some exciting collaborations take place between some of the country’s most creative talents with the likes of highly regarded South African fashion designer Marianne Fassler who has created the original costumes to epitomise Orlin’s stunning dance piece. This exciting partnership between Orlin and Fassler has been a long time coming and completely worth the wait. While Orlin’s piece makes use of recycled material, Fassler has used her distinct style to create striking costumes out of these materials.

“The costumes were inspired by the discussions around the subject of Beauty. I was particularly inspired by Solly, the man with his Trolly. At the very first discussion between Robyn and me, I told her that he was my muse because he lives and walks the streets of Saxonwold every day. I have known and supported him over many years and thought that he was, to me, an unexpected intrusion of beauty every time I saw him.,” says Fassler. “I don’t think the concept of making clothes out of debris is original, but, the way we created couture clothes out of everyday items, certainly is unique. The rest was easy. Once we started, we literally couldn’t stop.”

Two other renowned talents working with Orlin are Yogin Rajoo Sullaphen who will be providing the evocative music, while French film maker Phillippe Lainé will focus his videographic skills to add yet another fascinating dimension to the overall production. Orlin says, “There was and still is a lot of discussion before and during (and probably after) our process and we found that 'what is beautiful to one person is not beautiful to someone else' and so began (and continues) our journey. We started by stripping the stage bare and trying to find the essence of beauty in the streets of Johannesburg. We have ended up with a strange, cynical and humorous piece.”

Orlin herself is highly respected within the art and dance fraternity and is known to be controversial and thought-provoking when it comes to her award-winning, multifaceted talents. She is known for her accomplishments not only on a national level but internationally, too.

Other credit for the show goes to Orlin and Denis Hutchinson for the lighting. The assistant to Orlin is Nhlanhla Mahlangu who is a previous graduate of MIDM. The MIDM Company performing in the production are Muzi Shili, Sunnyboy Motau, Thandi Tshabalala, Julia Burnham, Tebogo Letele, Oscar Buthelezi and Otto Nhlapo. This South African production is a City Theatre and Dance Group and Moving into Dance Mophatong (MIDM) co-production and in France it is a City Theater and Dance Group, Biennale de la Danse de Lyon, MAC, Maison des arts de Cre´teil, Tilder, Maison de la musique de Nanterre co-production.

As a not-for-profit non-governmental organization, MIDM is proud of its fundamental role in the arts over the last 21 years and the company’s founder and current artistic director, Sylvia Magogo Glasser says, “MIDM does not just teach youth to dance, it equips individuals from under-resourced communities with the skills and confidence to become productive and self-sufficient people who are able to support their families and extended families. With the continued high rate of unemployment, we continue to be a safety net for many people who are the sole supporters of extended families as a result of the training they have received through us.” In this way, MIDM plays a role in breaking the cycle of poverty by providing career training and job opportunities to young people from impoverished communities.

The MIDM Dance Company is hoping to utilise the 21 celebration dance programme as not only a platform for the incredibly passionate and talented young MIDM performers but to also raise much-needed funding for bursaries for the students of 2013.

Dance patrons who may be interested in supporting the MIDM bursary fund-raising drive can contact Nadia or Busi on 011 838 2816 to book tickets for Beauty Remained or any of the other performances on the three-week programme. Normal bookings can be done through Computicket.