Collaborative Projects

Here are photos of the performance pieces that the students made in collaboration with the Siwela Sonke dancers. After two weeks of classes and making small pieces in the studio together, this project involved groups interviewing people and using the findings from their interviews as material for composed works created over the course of a very compressed two-day period. After several note sessions, the groups went looking for sites in which to perform, and below is one image of each work. They took on the challenge of working with architecture and found audience wonderfully. Once all the groups had performed, and we were on our way back to the studio, we had an impromptu dance with the whole company in response to a busker we passed who was playing a drum in the park. Ntombi, in the white hat, is one of the company's lead choreographers and dancers, and she had taught the group a combination in the morning that they then all spontaneously did as a grand finale!

Faculty Meeting

Our time in Durban is almost finished! The students performed today outside around Durban, pieces they'd made together with the dancers from Siwela Sonke. AMAZING work! I'm so proud of all of them, and of the collaboration with this company here. Every day after class and rehearsal, the bus drops us off at Nomads Backpackers, where we are staying, and I race in to find Zora, who is always playing happily with Bongiwe. Eventually before dinner, Gamal and I end up hanging out in Elizabeth and Jerry's room eating peanuts, feeding the baby raisins and playing with her. This is our daily Faculty Meeting! We talk about the events of the day and what we saw that we loved, and what we are thinking about. It's great. And Zora makes it a very entertaining hour with her running around!

Wildlife Weekend!

This weekend the class left Durban for a couple of days and went to relax in the bush at Hluhluwe (pronounced shloo-shloo-way) National Park. We left because there was a HUGE rugby party going on in Durban and all the hotel rooms in the whole city were booked....kind of nice for us as we got to take a trip! Zora and I chilled out at the beautiful backpacker's lodge where we were staying one afternoon, and I got to figure out the fancy new camera a little bit more. I realized there was a zoom lens I hadn't even tried out yet! It came in handy later that day when we went out for a couple of hours with a guide in the game park, and we came across a beautiful herd of elephants!

Bongiwe Plus Zora

Bongiwe is Zora's babysitter in Durban.  She is teaching Zora isiZulu words such as Woza, which means "come over here."  Zo-Zo, as Bongiwe calls her, seem to have it backwards, as she's now fond of running away and being chased, when anyone says Woza (or anything else!).  She giggles when running and likes to be scooped up when caught!

Bongiwe is the niece of Ntombi, one of the choreographers at Siwela Sonke, the dance company we are working with.  She stays with Zora at the backpacker hostel while I leave and go to rehearsal and class with the students at the Durban Playhouse during the day.  When I come home, both look pretty tired! Zora is so happy and getting used to all the new people, and she loves Bongiwe!!!

Z in Brooklyn

Zora spent the weekend at Seth's house in Brooklyn preparing to go to Durban. She pointed out the features of local architecture to Seth while they stood on his porch escaping the heat. They were both looking forward to the Tony Awards later that night.

Zora Charles and Seth work on her ideas to help the economy.

pita

Does Zora wish for more falafel with her pita? Hard to say...