Visiting Artists: Dance masterclass, Vuyani Dance Theatre

Please join us for a masterclass hosted by Otto Nhlapo from Vuyani Dance Theatre. All dancers are welcome; however, please know that the class is intermediate-level and not for beginners. The technique description is below. Please sign up here. The class is 90 minutes. For more information, please email Randal Fippinger.

Vuyani Dance Theatre will be performing at the ’62 Center on Thursday, September 26th, at 8 pm.

 

THE PULSE THEORY

Gregory Maqoma Dance Technique

Maqoma sieves memories through movement techniques that are a reminder of German philosopher, economist, and revolutionary, socialist Karl Marx’s (1818-1883) notion of kinetic maxim: It does not so much express what you should do but what you have to overthrow in order to do it, namely all conditions that inhibit kinetic potential.”

Definition and Purpose

The Pulse Theory – A cocktail

The body is in constant motion driven by the pulse of the heartbeat, which sends multiple signals, connected to the soul, mind and breath. It is this notion that drives my movement aesthetic focusing on the pulse as a starting point which when intensified creates vibration that remains constant, producing different layers of energy ripples exemplifying the aesthetic, ethical, political and social imperatives of such body techniques with a new sublime. My technique is seamless amalgamation of dance forms. They draw as much from African traditional movement particularly my Xhosa culture, colliding with western postmodern movement reference between and beyond these seeming binaries. The technique is a reflection of the diverse dance methods in which I was trained and exposed yet also profoundly driven by personal experiences. The intense repetition of the pulse pushes the body to a point of kinetic maxim.