In Moscow, a group from South Africa performed dances at a funeral

With the performance “Zion: Requiem for Ravel’s Bolero” by the dance theater from South Africa “Vuyani Dance Company”, the Chekhov Festival opened the autumn “second series” of its world program, which will show 7 performances by troupes from China, Cuba, Brazil, Argentina, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.

But first, about the troupe itself. Vuyani Dance Theater was founded by choreographer Gregory Vuyani Makoma in 1999, and is the most famous contemporary dance company on the African continent today. She toured in Europe and the USA, Mexico, New Zealand and collected all of South Africa’s top dance awards. This company appeared in Russia for the first time, choosing for its tour the play “Zion: Requiem for Ravel’s Bolero”.

So, what is different about the South African Bolero?

Firstly, it does not sound in the performance as an orchestral piece; the famous melody is only sung by the company’s artists in the middle and end of the performance (the composer and musical director of both the performance itself and the company is Nhlanhla Mahlangu). And secondly, it is dedicated to the topic of death…

There are a huge number of grave crosses on the stage and even hanging under the grates, and during the performance the dancers perform movements similar to those that cemetery workers use shovels to perform when burying a grave. In the play, the actors portray professional mourners at a funeral.

The word “Zion” in the title of the performance is the title of a novel about runaway slaves by South African writer Zakes Mda, a favorite author of choreographer Gregory Maqoma. This novel by Mda, like his other work “The Path of Death,” formed the basis of the ballet. The novel “The Path of Death” is about the story of the professional mourner Toloki, and the viewer follows Toloki through the cemetery, whose calling has become grief.

“We mourn death by re-creating death… The universe of greed and power has made us professional mourners. I create this work as a funeral lament, as a requiem necessary to awaken a part of ourselves and our connection with departed souls,” this is how the choreographer explains his plan.

What does Ravel’s “Bolero” have to do with it, which was also reworked by the composer Nhlanhla Mahlangu? It was he who arranged the famous melody, which is heard only a few times in the play, in the style of isikatamiya, an a cappella song and dance genre that arose in the early 20th century and burst into Western culture thanks to groups such as Ladysmith Black Mambazo. The name “isikatamiya” is derived from the Zulu verb cathama, which means “to walk softly” or “to step carefully”, alluding to dance movements. This style absorbed the traditional beliefs of the South African Zulus and was influenced by political and social processes taking place on the African continent.

“O death, who gave birth to you? Where is the root from which you grow,” we hear the words of the song (translation on the board installed on the sides of the stage and above the stage) at the beginning of the performance. As in the American dance theater of Alvin Ailey, whose influence is clearly felt by the South African group, black folk music of a religious nature is used: spirituals, sermon songs, blues based on the Holy Scriptures. And the dances are also based on Christian chants. Here we see elements of hip-hop and other modern movements.

“Run, even if you have lost an arm” – the theme of a runaway slave sounds from the stage in the song, which, following the novel “Zion”, is told in the play of the same name, and then the plot, if it is read by the viewer thanks to the chants, follows the Africans who died when crossing the Atlantic.

But the most important and paradoxical thing is that there is a lot of joy in Gregory Maqoma’s production. Despite all the suffering of the African people during life and despite them, beyond the borders of Death, Resurrection and Joy await them… The last mise-en-scene – the main character, a singer and dancer with dreadlocks adorning his head – carries a cross in his hands, leading a procession of exactly the same “crusaders”. These are the ancestral spirits whose names are listed before this final scene. “A smile is tears, pain is joy,” he sings to Ravel’s famous tune at the end of the dance show, as the others join in. And the feeling of joy and jubilation that overwhelms everything and everyone, in spite of everything, literally overflows the hearts of the audience.

— Why is “Bolero” taken as the basis for this performance, although the performance itself is much larger than this musical work? – I ask Lindivi Letuabu, general director of Vuyani Dance Company, after the performance.

— There is such a South African national dance – isikatamiya. It develops according to the principle from small to large: that is, the dancers repeat the same movements, first with a small amplitude, then they strengthen, strengthen and strengthen… It comes from an ancient tradition in South Africa, when miners at the mine, who even in these conditions are not could live without music and dance, and they danced quietly in the mine, gradually increasing and intensifying the sound and dance. And Ravel’s “Bolero” has the same principle of building up. In addition, there is a certain rituality in it, similar to how, for example, people go to a funeral. And in this rituality, where there is a certain procession, a certain way of moving, which the choreographer saw both in “Bolero” and in the general tasks of the performance.

— In the play, the funeral is a holiday where we still see joy.

— First of all, in Africa, people express any of their feelings through song and dance: when they are sad or when they are happy. And it’s even better when it’s a group song, because it allows you to reach greater depths. And dance is also part of the ritual, where they pay tribute to the departed, as, for example, at the end of the play, a man with a cross came out and repeated the names, thus remembering all the departed.

— Is this joy expressed in the play, despite neither death nor funeral, its main idea?

— In African culture, when a person dies, his life not only does not end. He becomes closer to God, he becomes an ancestor figure. And this ancestor figure can accomplish much more and give much more to his descendants than when the person was alive. So yes, there is definitely a celebration in this. Good news and joy are the main leitmotif.