FALL & RECOVER
Ann Masina is a versatile vocalist who handles opera, classical, gospel, jazz and pop with great aplom. Masina opened Season 1’s programme In The Ring. Masina’s song transitions into shadow projections of boxers from George Khosi’s Hillbrow Boxing Club, Andrew Gumbo and Sandile Khumalo accompanied by musicians from the Blind Mass Orchestra, led by João Renato Orecchia Zúñiga. Finally we see a choreographed boxing-inspired meditation on the process of developing a dance, Thulani Chauke performs and is choregraphered by core-curator Gregory Maqoma.

FALL AND RECOVER
Performers | Ann Masina, Andrew Gumbo, Sandile Khumalo & Thulani Chauke
Musicians | Tshepang Ramoba, Waldo Alexander & João Renato Orecchia Zúñiga
Choreographer | Gregory Maqoma
Shadow Projection artworks | William Kentridge

Choreographer and director of Ntsoana Contemporary Dance Company, Sello Pesa developed the first iteration of Bag Beatings. The work involved building responsive movement to the physicality of the ring and a boxing bag – mundane and comical actions escalate into extreme and disturbing violence. Humphrey Maleka, Brian Mtembu, and Pesa’s work is usually site and context specific. Ntsoana’s projects often heighten our awareness of the absurdity of the humdrum and the socio-political significance that sits just beneath the surface.

Some words from writer Laurice Taitz in response to the work:

"In Ntsoana Contemporary Theatre ’s Bag Beatings – choreographed and performed by Sello Pesa, Brian Mtembu, and Humphrey Maleka – a boxer dances around a punching bag, sparring the motionless bag into being an opponent. Two men in street clothing join the boxer in the ring, hanging back, eyeing the bag. The action erupts as they move in to beat the bag long before the boxer has thrown a punch. The boxer’s graceful ducking and weaving give way to vicious pummeling. There is no agility or skill to the movements. The men beat the bag into life and beat the life out of it. They bring into the ring other objects with which to beat the bag until the littered space resembles the aftermath on a sports field after unhappy fans have left.
It’s an unsettling performance. On the night, it provoked the extremes of raucous laughter and frozen silence. I sat among audience members who expressed horror at what they saw as violence on stage. To the right of me (nothing should be read into that directional sign) the giggles became cackles, joyously egging the performers on.
At face value, it was the response of an audience drawn into the ring to cheer on the victor, or witness defeat with dismay. The stuff of sport. But the beating appeared to evoke a visceral response. The bag became sentient, the violence wrought upon it a thing evoking outrage. Thinking through this humanising of the punching bag I recalled something that photographer Roger Ballen said in an interview, where I had asked him about the darkness perceived in his work. He responded: ‘Dark means so many things... ultimately the darkness people see is the thing they fear’.
Having watched the performance over since, I see in it a provocation to examine the vexed relationship between art and its audience; a representation of how we apprehend meaning by wrestling what we see into a shape that fits our worldview; a play in which the audience is a player, complicit in meaning-making. Like the bird, meaning is not fixed but set in motion.
Certainty is undone, discomfort is created, art is made.”

BAG BEATINGS
PERFORMERS | Sello Pesa, Brian Mtembu & Humphrey Maleka

Shadow Projections
MUSICIANS | João Renato Orecchia Zúñiga, Tsepo Pooe & Waldo Alexander
PERFORMERS | Humphrey Maleka & Brain Mtembu
CINEMATOGRAPHER | Duško Marović
FILM EDITOR | Žana Marović

CINEMATOGRAPHER | Duško Marović

EDITOR | Žana Marović
SOUND ENGINEERS | Soulfire Studios: Gavan Eckhart, Zain Vally, & Jacques Sibanda
LIGHTING DESIGNERS | Wesley France & Matthews Phala
COSTUME DESIGNER | Bake und Backen: Noluthando Lobese
SET & PROPS | Jenni-lee Crewe, Wesley France, Chris-Waldo de Wet, Christoff Wolmarans, Jacques van Staden, & Joey Netshiombo
STAGE MANAGERS | Dimakatso Motholo & Emil Lars
PHOTOGRAPHER | Stella Olivier

As part of his role as core-curator of Season 1, Khayelihle Dominique Gumede created Jero, the finale of the In the Ring programme.

Based on The Trials of Brother Jero by Wole Soyinka, it is the first of his three ‘Jero’ plays. Gumede's piece was created out of a combination of direct scenes from Soyinka's play; actor, boxer and choir improvisation, and an actual boxing match by two rival cruisers.

JERO
PERFORMERS | Hamilton Dhlamini, Daniel Robbertse, Tony Bonani Miyambo, Zethu Dlomo & Boitumelo Motsoatsoe

DIRECTOR | Khayelihle Dominique Gumede
CHOIR | Phumpuma Love Minus: Mhlakazeni Myeza, Patrick Majozi, Mqapheleni Ngidi, Siyabonga Majozi, Siphesihle Ngidi, Mbongeleni Mafutha Ngidi, Lucky Inunuyamanzi Khumalo, Wiseman Nkusheshe Mthembu, Jabulani Tshitshelimithi Mchunu & Celimpilo Mkaba Ngudi
CHOIR DIRECTOR | Nhlanhla Mahlangu
BOXERS | Hillbrow Boxing Club: George Khosi, Rita Mrweb, Nathalie Bania, Sandile Khumalo, Andrew Gumbo, Selina Mabunda, John Sibanda & James Sey
REFEREE | Andson Kazembe

Shadow Projections
MUSICIANS | Dan Selsick, Tlale Makhene & Tsepo Pooe
PERFORMERS | Hillbrow Boxing Club
CINEMATOGRAPHER | Duško Marović
FILM EDITOR | Žana Marović

CINEMATOGRAPHER | Duško Marović

EDITOR | Žana Marović
SOUND ENGINEERS | Soulfire Studios: Gavan Eckhart, Zain Vally & Jacques Sibanda
LIGHTING DESIGNERS | Wesley France & Matthews Phala
COSTUME DESIGNER | Bake und Backen: Noluthando Lobese
SET & PROPS | Jenni-lee Crewe, Wesley France, Chris-Waldo de Wet, Christoff Wolmarans, Jacques van Staden & Joey Netshiombo
STAGE MANAGERS | Dimakatso Motholo & Emil Lars
PHOTOGRAPHER | Stella Olivier

Known for her lyrical and gutsy poetry, Lebogang Mashile is an award-winning writer, presenter, actress and activist and as such was invited as a core-curator of Season 1.

Mashile immediately launched herself into multiple conversations with other invited participants for the Season, Mashile’s ability to develop profound and substantial work in a collaborative and multidisciplinary environment is exceptional. One of these conversations translated into Venus Hottentot Vs. Modernity.

Venus Hottentot Vs. Modernity has gone on to be developed into a full theatre piece. This first iteration was a collaboration between Mashile, Ann Masina, Tlale Makhene and Nhlanhla Mahlangu.

The process of creating the work has also been written about in the journal Esclavages & Post~esclavages / Slaveries & Post~Slaveries. “In this interview, the multifaceted South African artist Lebogang Mashile discusses her creative process and collaborations concerning her play Venus Hottentot vs. Modernity. Saartjie Baartman is a main source of inspiration and this can be seen through Mashile’s use of different art mediums (poetry, writing and performance). The intricacies and paradoxes of slavery, colonialism and their contemporary legacies are addressed so as to reflect on the hardships black women have faced and still have to face to this day.”

In Mashile’s words “ Without the Centre for the Less Good Idea, the piece would not have expanded. Ann Masina, Bronwyn Lace, and Nhlanhla Mahlangu, who were all critical parts of Season 1 at the Centre, were essential to the creation of this story.

Beyond the individuals who were involved, being in an experimental multidisciplinary space allowed me to expand my own ideas of how and where the piece could live.

Celebrated and prolific South African artist William Kentridge said that his own work began to grow when he stopped putting boundaries on the form in which it could live. He says that he begins his creative process by listening to the story. The story tells him where it wants to live. This idea deeply resonates with me. Once I let go of what I wanted the piece to be, it could tell me what it wanted to say. Being in the company of so many different kinds of creatives – from musicians, to performers, to designers, to choreographers, to digital artists – forced my ideas of what is possible within the realm of theater to stretch beyond my wildest imagination. Theater is a vessel that can contain just about any art form. The process of stretching the story, and then contracting it to fit the true message and form the story is asking for, is one that will remain with me. The essential nature of collaboration across mediums for artistic innovation is also a principle that I chose to live by.”

The full article can be found here: https://journals.openedition.org/slaveries/360

Performers | Lebogang Mashile and Ann Masina
Musician | Tlale Makhene
Director | Nhlanhla Mahlangu