Johannesburg Dance Umbrella: Thirty Years On (review)

Others expressed (in social media, in lobby conversations) dismay at the lack of a leadership succession plan for an organization that had become a recognized international brand and a dance-industry fulcrum. Dance Umbrella defiantly erected a temporary shelter where artists of all races and backgro...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Theatre journal (Washington, D.C.) D.C.), 2018-12, Vol.70 (4), p.539-542
Main Author: Cole, Catherine M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Apartheid
Artists
Arts funding
Audiences
Dance
Dance festivals
Dancers & choreographers
Feedback
Nonfiction
Social media
Spectatorship
Violence
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Others expressed (in social media, in lobby conversations) dismay at the lack of a leadership succession plan for an organization that had become a recognized international brand and a dance-industry fulcrum. Dance Umbrella defiantly erected a temporary shelter where artists of all races and backgrounds, working in all movement genres and styles, could gather, show new work, get feedback, connect to audiences, and be seen. Casting its audience as potential victims (shrapnel from a cracking whip landed on a spectator at one point, boiling water splashed within inches of others, and a swinging mass of a boxing bag that was being steadily beaten moved locations throughout the show, unsettling spatial dynamics and sometimes forcing audience members to leap out of their seats and rush off to the side). Featuring at its center Albert’s zaftig body, the show began with him encased in clear plastic wrap, seated in lounge chair, his back to the audience, and the back of the chair festooned with an elaborate skirt made of sjamboks (plastic whips) interlaced with bright patches of color like peacock feathers.
ISSN:0192-2882
1086-332X
1086-332X
DOI:10.1353/tj.2018.0101