A new dance work under the Third Space project banner: Choreographer Janeth Mulapha (Mozambique) and scenographer Jenni Lee Crewe (South Africa) join dancers from the Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative in residence at the Ebhudlweni Arts Centre. Over several weeks, they produce a new dance work drawing from shared references and interests, across countries and movement.
‘(In)Visible’ is a dance piece exploring the themes of seeing and not seeing, choreographed by Janeth Mulapha, influenced by her work with individuals who have experienced sudden blindness in Mozambique. The evocative choreography delves into neglect, pity, affection, integration, and curiosity, challenging audiences to reconsider their understanding of the world while highlighting shared humanity. Set against introspective narration, performers navigate hope and despair, grappling with the loss of sight and future uncertainty. Through vignettes, the work examines identity, age, injury, and disability, inviting reflection on human existence. Jenni-Lee Crewe’s scenography evokes a place where you cannot see but where you are watched, where shadows, echoes, and touch are the only means of navigation.
(In)Visible is a new project of The National Arts Festival, together with the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS) with the support of the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, and in partnership with the Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative (Mpumalanga).
This dance work is one of three new works at the Festival this year resulting from the collaborative initiative between the National Arts Festival (NAF) and the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS). Third Space is a ground-breaking dance development programme including renowned choreographers and scenographers from South Africa, Uganda, Mozambique and Tanzania working with dancers from three community art centres (Gompo Arts Centre, Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative, and The Kubu Collective at the Market Community Theatre) respectively based in the Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga and Western Cape.
An educational programme, Third Space will see the choreographers, scenographers and centres transmitting and exchanging skills with each other in addition to offering their learnings to the surrounding communities through a series of workshops.
Production Credits
Project Production Partners
The Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative, National Arts Festival, the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS) together with the support of the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs.
About the Artists
About the art centre:
The Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative is an independent dance company. In 2015, FATC relocated its operations from Johannesburg, Gauteng to the rural area of Emakhazeni, Mpumalanga, and established the independent Ebhudlweni arts centre. The Ebhudlweni arts centre is the base from which FATC rolls out its artistic, development and food-security-focus programmes, operating completely off the grid. The residency accommodation and studios are here, in context of nature, removed from any density of settlement.
About the choreographer
Janeth Mulapha is a dancer, performer and choreographer. She started out in competitive sports before turning to dance and joining the Escola de Dança Máscara in 1998. Trained as part of the Dances in Maputo City programme led by Panaíbra Canda, she has participated in Horácio Macuácua’s Orobrtoy, Stop! and Smile If You Can, Thomas Hauert’s There’s more…, and Kubilai Khan’s 25 Investigations. In 2014, she released My Gender Lives Here, a co-production by CulturArte and Studio Kabako under the Pamoja programme. It has been performed at the KINANI Festival in Maputo, at Tchad and in Paris.
Her second solo Let’s Talk, created with musician Ben Muthemba and premiered at the KINANI Festival in Maputo, was performed at Theatreformen in Braunschweig. In 2020, Mulapha was invited at the Fari Foni Waati festival in Bamako to create a piece for 14 dancers from the region. Mulapha has worked regularly with dancers with disabilities. In 2022, from February to April, she held a Choreographic Research Incubator for Women at the Centro Cultural Franco-Moçambicano in Maputo.
About the scenographer
Jenni-lee Crewe is currently senior lecturer in scenography at the Centre for Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies at the University of Cape Town. She completed her undergraduate studies at Rhodes University and went on to work with the First Physical Theatre Company as education officer, designer and choreographer. She then pursued her post-graduate studies in theatre design obtaining a Master of Fine Arts degree from Tulane University in New Orleans. Returning to South Africa, she lectured in the School of Arts at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg before moving to Cape Town. She is a fellow of the Ampersand Foundation, a Naledi award winning theatre designer and co-director of Flying House, an organisation dedicated to designing spaces and experiences that help people connect, create, innovate, and grow.
- Venue: Nombulelo
- Location: Nombulelo Hall
- Ticket price: ZAR 55.00
- Programme type: Third Space
- Genre: Dance & Physical Theatre
- Duration: 45min
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Ages:
ALL AGES
There are no performances for this show.
