“If I could go backwards I would fight not to get the virus. I would fight with all my life.”

Created By:

Free Flight Dance Company

Artistic Director:

Adele Blank

Choreographed By:

Celeste Botha, Mamela Nyamza, Mantu Jakavula, Megan Erasmus, Natalie Fisher, Owen Manamela and Simone Muller

Performed By:

Celeste Botha, Mamela Nyamza, Mantu Jakavula, Marc Goldberg, Marlin Zoutman, Megan Erasmus and Nonhlanhla Makathini

When:

Sat 13 At 10h00
Mon – Fri At 11h30
Sat 20 At 10h00

Where:

Pier Place

Duration:

30 Mins

About 5.4 million people are living with HIV in South Africa. Millions more are affected by the pandemic. Yet the virus is barely visible in our society. Stigmatised, people who live in its shadow all too seldom have a platform to tell their stories of hope or hardship.

This moving contemporary dance piece opens a window into the world of those for whom HIV/AIDS is an immense reality, and integrates their lives into society. Paula, an infected sex worker trying to support her children; Sidwell, a taxi-driver who has lost his sight but found the voice to bring peace to others; Terence, a youth who has embraced his status and looks towards a bright horizon … The dancers interpret the multi-layered narratives of these and other people, and the transcendent radiance of the human spirit over adversity.

The Free Flight Dance Company

Established by Adele Blank in 1987 as an ad hoc independent dance company, FFDC has produced over 50 choreographically innovative performance pieces. Adele has produced work for FFDC for every major festival and theatre in South Africa and trained numerous award-winning performers and choreographers.

FDC recognises dance as a tool for transformation. It continues to endorse freedom of artistic expression toward a world where gender, sexuality, race, cultural, social or economic background are sources of neither stigma nor inequality.

The Dancers

FFDC selects dancers who are committed to standards of excellence and whose excellence as artists is underpinned by an understanding of their history, socio-political and economic realities. Having trained at some of the best institutions in South Africa and abroad, the dancers for this project represent dance diversity, versatility, technical excellence and an understanding of dance as a tool for transformation. In particular they grasp the link between performance art and HIV awareness and prevention.