The Centre for the Less Good Idea is an interdisciplinary incubator space for the arts based in Maboneng, Johannesburg

Season 4 | VIDEO PROFILE | Thulani, Fana and Themba

Thulani Chauke is a performing artist, choreographer, and dancer. Chauke has learned from and worked with companies and schools such as Moving into Dance Mophatong, Vuyani Dance Theatre, and Forgotten Angle Theatre Collective. He is also a co-founder of The Broken Borders Art Project and formed part of Season 1 of The Centre for the Less Good Idea with his production titled History of the Main Complaint. For Season 4, Chauke infuses his innate curiosity in abstract forms of communication – the inherent languages in everyday expressions and movements of the body – into a host of collaborative performances with various musicians, actors, and visual artists. This Season also sees Chauke working with long-time collaborators Fana Tshabalala and Themba Mbuli to further explore the possibilities of movement, and to embrace the challenges that come with placing the body in unfamiliar contexts and forms of communication.

Fana Tshabalala was born in Sebokeng, Johannesburg, Fana Tshabalala’s passion for dancing has seen him take up the positions of dancer, teacher and choreographer over the years, and has taken him to locations across the globe. He has held positions of Assistant Director for the Vuku Zenzele Cultural Group,Dance director for Vuka African Artists, and is a co-founder of the Broken Borders Art Project. Tshabalala’s practice for Season 4 of The Centre for the Less Good Idea is that of an improvisational one, stemming from his belief in the amazing memory inherent in the body. In this way, improvisation is something of a natural act for Tshabalala – a process involving the performer opening their mind, and allowing the body to lead the way. Having embraced confusion as a means of discovery in the period leading up to these final performances, Tshabalala will be participating in a number of collaborative pieces for Season 4, seeing him work with musicians, dancers, objects, and more.

Themba Mbuli is a dancer, activist, performer, and choreographer Themba Mbuli began his journey with dance when he joined Soweto-based youth club, Zola Musical Drama, almost 20 years ago. He went on to become the 2016 Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Dance and has made a name for himself in the performing arts as one of South Africa’s brilliant storytellers. Mbuli has co-founded the projects Broken Borders Arts Project as well as the Unmute Dance Company in Cape Town, the only remaining theatre company for performers with disabilities to come together and create new work. Mbuli is interested in reflecting his observations on the global mistreatment of women, and takes much of his creative inspiration from the works of poets, musicians, and dancers. For Season 4 of the Less Good Idea, the performer is interested in making himself as available as possible to his fellow artists and collaborators, and will lend his practice to a number of the Season’s pieces, including dancer and choreographer Jessica Nupen’s Don’t Trust The Border. For Mbuli, this is the first time he’s collaborated with artists who work across such a variety of genres, and will incorporate the challenges he encountered during the workshopping process in much of his work for Season 4.