JOMBA! Digital Edge: Intimacies of Isolation

As the COVID-19 pandemic hit South African in March of 2020, and with the ensuing lockdown and the curtailing of any live performance, the South African JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Festival (going into its 22^nd edition in 2020), hosted by the Centre for Creative Arts at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, moved the festival online and into the digital domain.

Jabu Siphika
Ya kutosha – An intimate and terrifying exploration of gender-based violence and what it means to be trapped in the home.  Dancer/Choreographer: Jabu SIphika. Camera: Gabriel Masango

Kristi-Leigh Gresse
Fellow… – An exploration of an artist’s state of mind in isolation. It is a journey through this maze in search of light.  Dancer/Choreographer: Kristi-Leigh Gresse

Leagan Peffer
Kairos – a personal exploration of when passion and purpose meet. In love, in anger, in deceit, in loss as in failure, this work interrogates how life allows us to face struggle.  Videographer/Editor: Ntuthuko Mbatha.  Dancer/Choreographer: Leagan Peffer

Sandile Mkhize
Time – an exploration of history, forefathers, revolution and ways of being under COVID-19 – and a seeking for our humanity.  Camera: Ntuthuko Mbatha.  Choreographer: Sandile Mkhize.  Dancer: Cue Ngema

Sifiso Kitsona Khumalo
Walls – a deeply intimate exploration of a father-daughter relationship set against the separation imposed by COVID-19 and the lockdown.  Dancers and choreographers: Sifiso Kitsona Khumalo and his daughter, Lethiwe Zamantungwa Nzama.

Tegan Peacock
Control – Alt – Delete – this short film offers an intimate exploration of the struggle with control or the loss of it. Both internally and externally our lives have been radically altered and everyone is fighting to regain control and find a new normality…  Collaborators: Tegan Peacock and Jono Hornby.  Choreography: Tegan Peacock.  Muralist and Illustration: Jono Hornby

Tshediso Kabulu
Space of Colour – is an unflinching exploration of race and its intersection with class, in an intimate look at poverty and the uneven distribution of power and resources in South Africa; set against the backdrop of isolation and the COVID pandemic.  Dancers: Tshediso Kabulu and Motlatsi Khotle.  Poetry: Khwezi Becker.  Music: Anelisa Stuurman 

Zinhle Nzama
Shadow – is an intimate look at friendship and the validations of having someone there for you always, even when you cannot hold hands in a world that now asks for distancing.  This work is performed by two bodies:  Zinhle Nzama and Kirsty Ndawo.  The dance shorts will also be available online.

JOMBA! Digital Dance is part of Let’s Dance International Frontiers (LDIF), an annual international dance festival produced by Serendipity.  The festival features performances, discussions, workshops and a conference exploring dance as a medium for positive change.

To leave your thoughts, reflections and favourite moments from Let’s Dance International Frontiers (LDIF) 2021 why not write a note in the LDIF 2021 Guestbook found here.

Image Description – The word Jombai in red capital text on a white background