Cato
Manor Vibe
My recent examination tour of South Africa revealed
an exciting and unusual situation.
South African examiner Minette De Klerk is currently
involved in teaching dance to young people as part
of an outreach project called Cato Manor Vibe. She
found that they responded
so well to the ISTD Modern Theatre Faculty grades syllabus
that she entered students for Primary Class, Grades
1 and 2. Consequently I became so interested in the
project and its potential that I asked administrator
Peter Taylor, a former dancer himself and totally dedicated
to this project, to send me more details. I should
like to share Peter’s letter with you.
Pat Eddleston
“Cato
Manor Vibe was begun by Fantastic Flying Fish Dance
Company (FFFDC) a classically based contemporary
dance company, as an outreach project in 1999. FFDC’s
studio at that time neighboured on the large inner
city township of Cato Manor. This meant that the young
people the project targeted could walk to the studio
for classes.
As FFFDC was a contemporary dance company so the classes
offered were in contemporary dance. While to an outsider
this might appear a foreign thing to do, the young
black urban township people have completely taken to
this method of dance. The senior members of the project
are now well versed in contemporary dance language
and technique.
The project has been supported from its inception
by the Royal Netherlands Embassy and without this support
the project would not be able to continue. The fortunes
of FFFDC waned due to lack of funding resulting in
the company being put on hold, so the project has been
able to continue thanks to RNE funding. Classes are
now held in a neighbouring school hall every Friday
afternoon and Saturday morning.
At
present we are in a three year funding cycle and
will have to apply for further assistance at the
end of 2007 if the project is to continue. Initially
there was only one group of young people attending
class but gradually numbers increased and with that
so did the number of classes. Also with time those
who have been with the project since the beginning
have become more advanced in knowledge and technique
so classes of different levels of proficiency needed
to be provided. Currently there are four teachers;
Minette De Klerk teaches the junior members; Super
Cele and Mdu Mtshali team teach contemporary technique;
Musa Hlatshwayo teaches technique and is Artistic Supervisor.
I administer the project.
While
the primary focus is on class we also take the young
people to see as much dance performance as possible
for their observation and education. Performance is
also part of the learning process and each year there
have been opportunities to perform either as part of
works arranged by other organisations such as KZN (Kwazulu
Natal) Dance Link projects or our own scheduled works
such as Indumezulu Yomdanso (Dance that Thunders),
our last performance in December.
The
junior members of the project are just at the beginning
of the learning process and many will fall away as
time passes. There are many social pressures from
life in townships, which affect the project often
causing young people to leave. Most of the senior
members are now proficient exponents of dance and
some display great potential to make careers in dance.
It is hoped that they will have the opportunity to
further their dance education and find employment.
This
is where we are today. We need to find ways firstly
to continue the project and secondly to provide opportunities
for those who do wish to further their dance career.”
“I
LOVE DANCING”
These are just a few of the delightful statements
from the little students of Cato Manor Vibe, translated
from Zulu:
‘I
love dancing because my teacher loves us and she
teaches us how to respect each other. I enjoyed my
exam because we were dressed beautifully and we danced
beautifully.’
Thembelilhe
‘I enjoyed the exams and the training. I learned
a lot of things like discipline and respect. What I
love about our dance project (Cato Manor Vibe) is that
I’m learning about dance as a future career.’
Thobeka
‘I
had fun during exams and I learnt that you must not
laugh at someone and
that you have to be serious and
passionate when dancing. At Cato Manor Vibe they teach
me about self-discipline.’
Samkelisiwe
‘It was nice going to my exams. I’ve
learned a lot of things like discipline and how I must
conduct myself as a dancer, like not chewing gum, eating
in the studio, and that I must not laugh at someone. I
love dancing because I spend my time dancing with
my friends and I don’t do other bad things.’
Ayanda |
