Hard But Fragile is a work that seeks to find power in brokenness. The sjambok (whip) is used as a tool for instruction, musicality, and performance.

There are three of them – the whips – wielded by two performers. Through these laden optics, there is the constant threat of violence, although it does not emerge, held instead in memory and expectation. The performers, Micca Manganye and Thulisile Binda, engage in a physical dialogue, their engagements short and sharp like the crack of a whip. Outfitted in costumes of brittle, crinkling paper, they flit and shake about the stage like dry leaves.

A sonic swell emerges, the sound of whips cutting through the air and slapping against the stage. When they encounter the body, it is not with force. Rather, they function as tools for performance – loaded metaphors wielded with shrewd physicality. In the hands of Binda, specifically, the sjambok becomes a taut spine, a snare, a tightened bow, even a noose.

Together, the performers duel and converse, developing a duet of raw physicality and incidental musicality that is equal parts severe and poetic.

– David Mann

CREDITS:

CONCEPTUALISER & CHOREOGRAPHER | Thulisile Binda
PERFORMERS | Thulisile Binda & Micca Manganye
MUSICIAN | Micca Manganye