EvocativeProductions
presents
The KaapseBALL initiative
"spoke to relevant issues in contemporary South Africa, from homophobia in the townships through a fervent and poignant drag performance by Odidi “Odidiva” Mfenyana in The Homecoming Ball: Bushwaacking, complete with vogueing, waacking ...." - http://www.platformonline.co.za/home/index.php/creation1/item/357-infecting-the-city-2014-reviewAIM: To challenge homophobia, misogyny and bigotry by showcasing the excellence of Urban South African Dance's diversity as an international phenomenon that is a source of pride for ALL.HOW: This is done through the blending of the American Gay Cultural Phenomenon of BALLING with the trend blazing culture of Urban African Dance. Using the competitive Ball Cultural template of a "Dance-Off/Walk-Off" between opposing houses we present several categories of masculinity and femininity in exaggerated effect. By so doing revealing the close relationship between Urban America and Urban African Culture. The conclusion is that one influences the other and that Urban African Culture can stand up and even excel Urban American Culture. LEGACY: By methodically and extravagantly poking fun at traditional or stereotyped perceptions of gender roles and sexuality we hope to help form a consciousness that not only respects diversity but nurtures empathy for the "other". A feeling that infuses affection and admiration for others in our diverse, divided and proud city.Introduction to vogue and waackThe process will be a creative and educational process it will also form part of the audition for the eight dancers we will use for the piece in the end. My reason for wanting to have everybody in the workshop process is to give everybody is given a chance to learn this style of dance understand the dynamics and technic needed to bring this style of dance to life and most of all the history of this dance style. I believe once we have the knowledge and the technic we can then break the rules of vouging and waacking and most of all personalize it and make it South African and AfricanThis will be a 3 month set up this is also depended on the time and availability of the dancers but the 3 months is so that we can allow the dance style to sit in peoples bodies and most of all for the dancers to feel confident in them self and what they are doing.About the workshopThis workshop and working process seeks to introduce the people partaking in it to the culture of Balls and its relationship to waacking and vogue. This workshop will be looking at different kinds of vogue styles and waacking understand them, and the techniques needed and how this can be infused with contemporary dance while sticking to the raw, ruff and street style of vogue and waacking.Once we have done that we will then break down the rules and personalize it, bring it back to urban South Africa here and now. The dance style is in the country but looks as thou there are no dancers who know and understand it in the South African urban dance context and that is what this workshop will seek to do primarily.IDENTIFYING THE POWER WITHIN identifying with the youth of urban America through Paris is Burning and Rize by David La ChappelleParis is Burning deals with the LGBT History of urban dance style called Voguing. In it we explore The social economic reasons for the development of Voguing and how it has evolved into the Waacking scene of today and become the bastion of gay and fashionable culture through RuPaul’s Drag Race and expropriation of cultural elements by heterosexual entertainment world.Rize by David La Chapell explores the evolving and development of 21st Century urban dance called “Krumping” from the social economic developments in the ghettos of Los Angeles in the late 90’s to its zenith as a major cultural phenomenon.Rize helps to the students to identify more closely with the US urban youth who share very similar circumstances and issues. Through this understanding we are able to then able to then begin to chip away at the Apartheid induced Inferiority Complex.MYSOGYNY = HOMOPHOBIAexploring sexual harrassment, mysogny and homophobia in contemporary urban South AfricaTHE CHOREOGRAPHY: BUSHWAACKINGbring the South African “Gees” to WaackingThis process was developed working with the Jazzart Dance Theatre Trainees at the custom made Artscape theatre complex studios. It took exactly 6 weeks with a minimum of 6 hours a week to achieve our goal of THE HOMECOMING BALL: BUSHWAACKING at the INFECTING THE CITY FESTIVAL 2014 performed 13 &14 March, IZIKO South African National Gallery stairs.“I'M GOING TO BECOME THE POPE NEXT YEAR. NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE.”BRENDA FASSIE
Odidi Mfenyana claims all rights, copyright and trademark of The Homecoming BALL and BUSHWAACKING
concept, ideas, execution, terminology, dancing and style.
We hope to kick start a cultural phenomenon that sees many dance houses/dance troupes formed to compete in Kaapse BALL all over the Western Cape, organised by the dance houses themselves. We hope to create a template for community based, self-taught, self-managed and self-sustained creativity.
The Homecoming BALL is aimed at the youth market. Jazzart gains from making dance accessible. Dance in Cape Town shall reap the rewards of a new market of more patrons and a society that nurtures dancing giving Jazzart more depth in recruitment of quality trainees.
The amateur dancers from the dance houses shall help nurture an appreciation and respect for the dancing profession in communities that might never have been exposed or seen the value of a career in the performing arts.
The Homecoming BALL is also to give "At Risk" youths (latchkey kids) from low-income homes an avenue to empower them to be creative and self sufficient in another kind of gang.
By collaborating with Odid!Productions on
The Homecoming BALL Jazzart reaffirms itself as THE centre for nurturing and elevating raw talent and graduating professional dance practitioners.
Odid!Productions aims to continue showcasing
The Homecoming BALL after Infecting the City as we strongly believe in Active Citizenship through community projects managed and sustained by citizens building unity in diversity and social cohesion.
The KAAPSE BALL Initiative: Education Programme
Walking in the Hood: Through acting out and describing the verbal abuse and latent sexual or violent harrassment of women and gay effeminate men experience daily as opposed to heterosexual or masculine men, we begin to expose the premise that mysogny = homophobia and that through dance we can help show people their own socially acceptable bigotry.Masculine vs Feminine: Each student is given a masculine and feminine character to create. Drawing inspiration from people in their neighbourhoods and their own masculine and femine traits the students then do several characterizantons excercisis and then slowly begin to incorporate these movements into their choreography
Beyoncé/Rihanna/Jonellé Monae/ Ciara: Through watching several music videos of these music superstars we explore how South African urban dance has been expropriated by the U.S. entertainment industry repackaged and resold to the world as their own.The Homecoming Ball: We then take the Masculine/Femine characters the students have developed and ask them to “Make the Circle Bigger” and “Face Off” in a “Dance Off” blending South African urban dance with Waacking and other dance styles including Traditional Dances and Classical Contemporary Dance.BUSHWAACKING: From here we fly into each student teaching their favourite dance sequence to her contemporaries. This is how we are able to gage who will lead and who will follow. Thus we arrive at the choreography when a master class is given by Nkosinathi Sangweni incorporating key BUSHWAA CKING elements. Thus the students are ready to “GO GET YOUR LIFE and LET HAVE” to “BUST SOME MOVES and LET THEM SEE FLAMES” forming their own BUSHWAACKING gang.
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