Represent Introduces: Anthea Moys
Representah Alana Cremonte is a big fan of performance artist Anthea Moys who is currently dabbling in the inner city… Alana wanted to share the love so that perhaps you too can take a ‘ncane break, a petit pause, una momenta… and smell…the… uh… jacarandas…while reflecting on this mad thing we call life. Sharpile Alana!: Why are so many people so caught up in their day to day fast-forward, that they forget how easy it is to just take a step back, pause and choose their next direction before moving forth? I guess they haven’t even realised that they need this luxury. Whether or not that has to do with the fact that this idea hasn’t been properly marketed with an ad campaign yet, is totally besides the point and I think it was small-minded of you to bring it up. To be fair, life does seem to be moving at a tremendous pace these days. So much so that even if you wanted to just stop and smell the roses, you’d find yourself at the back of the queue and desperately treading water. So, imagine if you had a moment of play forced on you. What if, you were interrupted from your hustle and bustle by “Jozi’s Golden Girls”. A gaggle of grannies, performing a choreographed dance routine in the middle of your city square. Gold and black tracksuits sparkling in the midday sun, good time music as their soundtrack and a young girl in the middle, joining in, almost a part of their world. Anthea Moys is the performance artist whose incredibly relevant work finds her positioned, both figuratively and literally, in the middle of people’s lives. She is constantly daring South Africa to stop and ask, why? The question is, if confronted with some of her work, would you stop and take it all in? At the very least you’d have to commit to a smile, right? Most people find a sigh of relief in her performance art. She doesn’t rely on shock tactics to get her message across, but rather, gently holds that proverbial mirror up to show her audience a piece of themselves they have forgotten. The world has charmed her and she openly admits to being curious of “people in their little worlds”. And that’s what she has consciously worked on showing us, a little glimpse and a “momentary gift” that unites you, so very specially, to anyone else involved. The moment is yours and you can hold your opinion of it close to you heart as you revel in the fact that you are sharing something that will never be recreated, just...
Represent Review: So you think you can Dance
We’re delighted that some of Represent’s fabulara dancer friends: David Matamela, Thabiso, Megan and Elizma are all getting their go on telly, it’s about time these tireless hard-slogging dancers got a glamourous platform to shake their booties, it’s a nice change from the bread-and-butter corporate work they have to do, although they do it so superbly. So… The Matrix was on TV!! Yes, yours truly and the legendary Agent Katz have been mingling with the visual media people again… See Agent Katz’s photostory of the night as well as lots of close-up backstage pics here, and read all about the live TV event below: Saturday 27 September 2008, The Standardbank Arena – Ellis Park Sports Precinct. Many a follower and busloads of family and friendly supporters turned out in their droves for the live, SABC 1 broadcast of the riveting Teen pop-culture dance competition: So You Think You Can Dance. There’s just something awesome about attending a live event, for starters, while the repertoire of choreographic work is kept at bear-minimum levels, the adrenaline rush in the live environment is forever pumping, ensuring that you miss none of the breath- taking content. This being a family and teens targeted programme, the event coordinator found himself with a mammoth of a task at hand – painstakingly trying to regulate the loud screams and vibrant young energies transcending into the arena (p.s we were trained like Seals in a series of very important drills: when to scream, shout, clap and boo… I wonder if they purposefully ignored training us on how to spot the cue for when to shed a tear at some of the beautiful and emotion-evoking scenes, captivatingly portrayed live on the expansive and well designed stage). Like in other true pop-culture show which has managed to survive the long and treacherous transatlantic journey to land on our ‘color tubes’, a team of villains posing as ‘Duke and his Duchess’ style personalities made-up the expert panel of Judges…Such a snooty bunch this lot!! Professional Choreographer: David Matsamela, Professional Choreographer: Ms Didi Moses, Professional and International Choreographer: Harold van Buuren. AND NOW THE PERFORMING ARTS… Those of us who grew up with square eyes from being glued to the indoor square box would surely confess to loving YO-TV (The former version with the Dodo costumed dude who famously exclaimed: Ma’ Cousins!!!) , for many of us the sole purpose of watching was to feed our secret affection of the super-styling babe: Sade! Well, I can confess that she’s still as fly and confident as ever! Iyoh, Iyoh, Iyoh!!!! The 14 amazingly talented contestants with elastic-like flexibility were grouped in pairs...
We like going 2 by 2
Oh we love nothing more than a good get down tswalatsa, tsipatsipa, manyisa or kwasakwasa… especially on payday weekend. Check out the classic moves on the Rhythmic Elements ‘2 by 2’ hitsong below. Wola wops!...
New Music Review: DJ Fresh goes Electro
He’s a legend and we’ve lapped up every single one of his albums… As you may know, our motto this year (and one of our goals since we debuted) is to encourage a ColourlessSociety in South Africa, where we remove ourselves from the ridiculous skin boxes (never mind music, lifestyle blah blah), most cast upon us, some self-imposed, but many that continue to be self-perpetuating and maddeningly limiting… We believe Fresh is one of the pioneers of the break free mentality and how we would describe a leader of the ColourlessSociety that we strive for. Dawn Penny sniffs out his foray into Electro… NICE ONE. Break ’em down… Represent! 7 beats out 10 We’ve all been there with him, from Fresh House Flava to Fresh House Classics to Definition of House, and now DJ Fresh goes a little experimental with his house. Fresh goes Electro is the first in the new Fresh series, “DJ Fresh goes…”. I will admit up until listening to this CD, I have not been a huge fan of electro house. I mean I could listen to a song or two while on the dance floor but I’ve never sat down and given it a listen. And I will say that as many times as Fresh has not missed with his previous offerings, he hit the nail right on the head with this one. He starts the CD out easing you in to the electro beats (so as to not shock his fans too much early on?), which I appreciated cos I was still trying to get over the sound coming out of the speakers. As the CD carries on he gets a lot harder on the electro beats, like very hard, to the point where you feel like you’re in a trance. But then just as you think he can’t get any harder, he softens things up towards the end, which restores you to the CD and wakes you from your zombie state. What’s also really cool about this album is that Fresh mixes all those classics like Sing it Back by Chic Flowers and Kirsty Hawkshaw vs Kinky Roland with Fine Day – among others – that had us on the dance floor at house parties. My favourite tracks – which might be hits – were track number 3, 7, 9, 12, 13 and 15. The rest I felt were a little heavy for my ears. If you’re a DJ Fresh fan you will love this but if you’re strictly a house fan, the house that we know Fresh for, this might be a little hard for you to swallow. But I was...
Represent Recommends: La Traviata
Our very fabulous world traveller, in-house dancer, choreographer and sometime therapist (yeah, we’ve got a biiiig colourful family at Represent and lots of talent!) went to spend some time at the La Traviata open-day rehearsals – she was inspired and loved every minute of it, convinced to get her tutu back on. Elmarie gives you LOTS of reasons why you MUST go to the Ballet in 2008 and specifically to La Traviata by the South African Ballet Theatre, dates and details provided below. Sharpile Elms! (PS – How awesome is that rehearsal studio? I wanna dance there!) “Get high on dance! To say ballet is a dying art form is completely inaccurate! The South African Ballet Theatre company is very much alive. In disbelief? My advice is that you get yourself to their newest performance ‘La Traviata’ opening 15 August. I recently had the privilege of attending an open day rehearsal at their magnificent studios in Jozi; it was uplifting to say the very least. Once again, I felt extremely proud of our South African talent. So! For some divine inspiration treat your mind to a night at the ballet. No one’s asking you to wear the tights, simply turn off the tele’ and indulge in a truly beautiful mood-altering experience. If you’re interested in seeing a perfect machine reveal its existence of a soul then you owe it to yourself to see this dynamic company perform La Traviata. And remember, Live a lot!” www.saballettheatre.co.za FNB’s La Traviata – The Ballet The Nelson Mandela Stage At The Johannesburg Civic Theatre 15 August – 7 September 2008 A ballet in three Acts With The Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Maestro Allan Stephenson Twenty two performances of FNB’s La Traviata – the Ballet choreographed by Veronica Paeper. An exquisite story ballet based on the famous opera ‘La Traviata” La Traviata is Cape Town based choreographer Veronica Paeper’s ballet translation of the Verdi opera of the same name. Based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas, it tells the story of a Parisian courtesan who unexpectedly finds herself in love and loved in the midst of a cynical and frivolous life among the demi-monde of Paris. But it is a love that is destined soon to be shattered on the shoals of family duty and mortal illness. The score is drawn from Verdi’s exquisite opera, especially arranged for ballet. Regarded as one of Paeper’s finest works, La Traviata brings to the stage the tragic story of a dying woman’s last love. La Traviata – The Ballet Saturday 16 August @ 3pm Saturday 16 August @ 8pm (Half-price night) Sunday 17 August @...
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