A GATHERING IN A BETTER WORLD (2023)
"A Gathering In a Better World is about building a network of artists living with disabilities, a worldwide network. It's about responding to something that's not existing in the world and in Africa specifically..." – Calvin Ratladi.
From 1 to 5 March, A Gathering in a Better World (AGIABW) festival took place at The Market Theatre. Led by Calvin Seretle Ratladi and initiated by the festival Theaterformen, the project was supported by Goethe-Institut Johannesburg and The Centre for the Less Good Idea.
The Centre hosted Ratladi and the participants of AGIABW from 30 January to 3 February, where they engaged in collaborative explorations into language, music and physicality, and embraced the generative possibilities of play and impulse.
Throughout the workshop, participants used their bodies as the primary generators of material. Choosing to work with nothing in the space – no stage, no chairs or props – they ultimately utilised the full extent of the space to collaborate and play.
Here, the ensemble became a vital point of entry for the eventual structure of the work and the overall way of working. Participants took turns leading the ensemble, offering simple additions to the growing work – steps, movements, gestures, usually always musical. Eventually, the group, despite its many moving parts, began to function as one and a narrative emerged.
Similarly, repetition became a vital tool. The act of performing a single gesture or sound, repeating it, mimicking it, became a methodology and a way of providing new ideas, new ways of moving, thinking and feeling. “It’s difficult, but it’s also comforting,” remarked a participant, “Like a mother’s song in the night.” In the final performance at The Market Theatre, many of these moments echoed in compelling solo vignettes.
– David Mann
PHOTOGRAPHER | Zivanai Matangi
CREDITS:
CONCEPTUALISER | Calvin Ratladi
PERFORMERS | Nadine Mckenzie, Andile Vellem, Chuma Sopotela, Hlengiwe Madlala, Sello Sebotsane, Thulani Chauke, Teresa Phuti Mojela, Anathi Conjwa, Siphenati Mayekiso & Nceba Gongxeka