Seventy Sounds Between You and Me is a performance conceptualised by Kyla Smith and Hannah Loewenthal, in collaboration with the Hillbrow Theatre and elders of the Tswelopele Frail Care Centre, with Gcebile Dlamini and Arcade Music. The performance took place at The Centre for the Less Good Idea in May 2018 as part of the For Once programme.

A collaboration between performers young and old, Seventy Sounds Between You and Me harnesses sound, movement, and a collective choreography to put forward a performance that muses on forms of communication, care and exchange.

The performance opens with noise and the music of the city – bottles clinking, the hooting of cars, taxis, the hammering of an industrial drill, the sonic detritus of the urban centre. A scene emerges: a young girl and an elderly woman, facing one another, and illuminated by the harsh, singular light of a pair of torches. They reach out to each other, but do not touch.

This engages the activity of the performance – a row of elders and youngsters begin to move, gesture, all in a uniform line situated at the back of the stage. There are many languages and modes of communication taking place here: signing, facial expressions, small, repetitive gestures. They develop into disparate performances, physical refrains that are gently performed and resolutely held.

The youngsters break away into a chorus and move in time, while the elders watch on. Throughout it all, Smith is just off stage, collaborating with the dancers through live musical performance. While the stage remains undressed for the duration of the performance, lighting design by Alexia Webster makes for considered moments of shadow play and silhouette, adding a further layer of performance and perception to the work.

Seventy Sounds Between You and Me is a performance that puts forward the possibility of communication and care, as well as the nuances that underpin the two. When the various performers do “meet”, it is through the language and activity of dance – a singular and prevailing moment in the performance. It is through the individual and ultimately collaborative components of language, sound and movement that Seventy Sounds Between You and Me is so strongly rooted.

– David Mann

CREDITS:

ELDERS | Harry Card, Vicky Walker, Onica Mabane, Flora Nkwana, Adrina Xaba & Milton Sibiya
YOUTH | Charlotte Ndlovu, Mbalenhle Ncube, Nosipho Dlamini, Njabulo Dumakude, Olivia Jack & Amanda Ngwenya
ARTISTIC DIRECTORS | Hannah Loewenthal & Kyla-Rose Smith
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR | Gcebile Dlamini
SOUND DESIGNERS | Arcade Music: Vitu Maphenduka, Sabelo Sithole & Giyani Ngcamu
LIGHTING DESIGNER | Alexia Webster
PROJECT MANAGER | Shruthi Nair
STAGE MANAGER | Hayleigh Evans & POPArt Productions