Zimbabwean dance maker Bawren Tavaziva and Tavaziva Dance come to Article19 with two works from their brand new touring production featuring four pieces of work. Three of them new and one of them, ‘Silent Steps’, created by Harriet Macauley for her own company Pair Dance.
Tavaziva have been up running now for the last four years and the current tour brings a fair bit of diversity in terms of tone and content. We have some out and out dance making with ‘Kenyan Athlete’ and some heavy political comment from ‘My Friend Robert’. The other two works that form the complete tour are ‘Sinful Intimacies’ and the aforementioned ‘Silent Steps’
First up we have ‘Kenyan Athlete’ of which the press speak tell us;
“This new group work takes it’s starting point from the expression “the sun is beautiful people” that inspired Bawren’s highly successful Beautiful People for the Without Walls festivals consortium. Kenyan Athlete is set to a fast-paced soundtrack, exploring the beauty and physicality of Kenyan people and their surroundings.”
It might be hard to believe but Robert Mugabe, the “sort of” President of Zimbabwe, was once a hero to many of his countrymen before the power went straight to his head and his country went on a seemingly endless downward spiral.
‘My Friend Robert’ takes a long hard look at Mr Mugabe and the havoc he has brought upon Zimbabwe. Politics is a tough subject to cover with a dance work but Tavaziva bring brevity, clarity and class to the stage.
Press wise we have this:
“Bawren draws on his personal experiences and memories of growing up in the newly-independent Zimbabwe of Robert Mugabe, a leader of promise and vision, adored by his people. So what went wrong?
Where do the visionary dreams, empowerment, redistribution of resources and flag-waving shade off into megalomania, economic meltdown, corruption and violence? Bawren’s latest group work offers a deeply personal comment on the challenges facing Africa today. “
‘My Friend Robert’ and ‘Kenyan Athlete’ are performed by: Amanda Lewis, Anna Watkins, Ingrid Abbot, Everton Wood and Gerrard Martin.
The companies next performance is at the Carriage Works Theatre in Leeds on March 17th touring through to the end of March.
Full details on the company’s website.