A BOLLYWOOD inspired hybrid dance showcase, under the helm of dance activist and choreographer Iqraam Rahim, will stream online soon.
The production is presented by Rahim’s Rampage Dance Company. It is a re-imagining of the company’s annual family-friendly Eastern Evening event, entitled Reset.
In a statement, Rahim said they usually staged their year-end Eastern Evening dance competition with guest judges, but it did not feel appropriate at a time when the arts have been hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. So they are doing a showcase instead. Judges have turned into mentors and worked with dancers to produce the show.
Rahim has collaborated with choreographer Vusi Makhanya and dancers from the KwaMashu Dance Theatre, as well as guest performer Kimberly Arthur, for a blend of Eastern and Zulu influences.
Rahim said visiting guest choreographer and Mumbai-based dance influencer, Kshitij Viashav, brought an international flavour to the mentorship programme.
“His unique combination of dance and editing techniques promotes the survival of the performing arts online.”
In an interview with The POST, Rahim said cross collaborations between arts practitioners and cross-pollination in the arts, like mixing live and online performance, was important at this time.
“For now, we are relying on creative sustainability, which is a cross-pollination between industry segments. For example, art decor, technology, education, graphics, fashion, hair and make-up, photography, etc.
“By creating this kind of collaboration, we not only occupy space but hold space for the future generations of artists to exist. Gen Z is leading the future of performance into the digital space. The Tik Tok generation has changed the principals of dance, rendering most dance school methodology obsolete.”
Rahim said working in child development for the last decade had helped him realise that there was a generation of artists developing with a value for art in non-traditional spaces, specifically the digital space.
“The pandemic has forced us to see value in the online world. It has expedited our reach to an international audience and allowed projects like The Eastern Evening to venture into the home entertainment market. I find it fascinating that my dance work can reach people on their devices anywhere in the world, literally in the palm of my hands.
“My brand has evolved, but it is important to me that we make the transition without alienating our supporters that hold loyal to traditional theatre. The hybrid is a perfect fit for now with a priority of creating employment and education.”
The Eastern Evening, Reset dance programme will be performed to an invitation-only live studio audience at Unity Performing Arts at the Gateway Theatre of Shopping.
It will also be streamed online on November 21 in three components: the virtual red carpet and introduction, the full show, and the reunion show featuring interactive commentary and behind the scenes footage.
All three filmed components can be watched by purchasing one family/household ticket in the form of a R150 donation. Tickets, available via Quicket, are one per device/household – enabling multiple watchers, not individual tickets per person.