Bodies and instruments alike are performed through In Out & Above, a performance that merges music and physicality in striking and novel ways.

Charged with tension, In Out & Above mines the inherent narrative of the body, and muses on the dynamic between one’s practice and core self. There is a drum, but it is not played. This predicament – this expectation of music – quickly falls away when the two performers begin a conversation between stilted movement (Manganye) and free-flowing, but responsive choreography (Shili).

As the performance progresses, the two become increasingly intertwined. Shili circles Manganye, climbs him, lays upon him, both disrupting and informing his relationship with his instrument and his own body. Manganye pushes through, giving way to an extraordinary display of physical and musical performance. Together, they build and sustain a compelling display of struggle and tension. As Shili anchors himself, supine and unmoving on the musician’s lap, Manganye endures, raising his tired arms to beat out a steady and laboured rhythm.

Ultimately, music and body become interwoven, both literally and figuratively, through a pursuit of the inner-self. Manganye and Shili’s fraught and fated relationship finds resonance in an arduous but unified procession off stage – all limbs and hands and a heavy, deliberate gait – leaving only the drum and an empty chair behind.

– David Mann

CREDITS:

CONCEPTUALISER & CHOREOGRAPHER | Muzi Shili
DIRECTOR | Thabo Rapoo
PERFORMERS | Muzi Shili & Micca Manganye