Cape Dance Company Returns to Artscape with INTERPLAY this November

The Cape Dance Company, under the artistic direction of Debbie Turner, returns to Cape Town's Artscape Theatre in November 2017 with INTERPLAY. After a successful season at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, the critically-acclaimed neo-classical and contemporary dance company is delighted to present this season comprising two programmes of works that reflect the diversity of the company and its broad repertoire.

This annual Cape Dance Company season is an exciting fixture on the Western Cape's dance calendar and this year's edition most notably features a newly commissioned work funded by the National Arts Council and created by Mthuthuzeli November, a South African born and trained dancer and choreographer who is now based in London with Ballet Black. November was recently nominated as one of four dancers in Dance Europe Magazine's Critics' List for Most Outstanding Performance by a Male Dancer.

"Sun- The Rite of Passage" is dedicated to the memory and extraordinary life of dedicated dance teacher and mentor Fiona Sutton, who started November on his dance path in Xolani Township. The work represents Mthuthuzeli's first major commission for the Cape Dance Company and is a journey into adulthood, of finding one's path and unique place in the world while navigating the challenges of the 21st century in a modern yet traditional context. A second piece by November, "Visceral", will also be presented this season.

Additionally, a newly commissioned work by Kirsten Isenberg, entitled "Hush", inspired by those who feel unheard and voiceless, will be premiered. Returning for a second Artscape season is Andrea Schermoly's poignant and dramatically-lit "Cliffnotes", as well as signature Cape Dance Company works by Christopher L Huggins in the form of the tempestuous "Blue", the beautifully haunting "When Dawn Comes" and the perennial classic, "Bolero".

The Cape Dance Company is significantly committed to nurturing emerging talent in all aspects of the profession and focuses on skills transference from one generation to another. the company and management are inspired by the fact that the entire creative team of INTERPLAY is drawn from the organisation, including faculty member Nathalie Vijver as dramaturge and graduates Peter Johnson and Lee van der Merwe as the original composer and assistant choreographer respectively. Both are products of the Cape Dance Company and its associated school, the Cape Academy of Performing Arts.

Featured artists in this season include Marlin Zoutman, Carmen Lotz, Olivia Parfitt, Kingsley Beukes, Gemma Trehearn, Danielle Wagner, Emily Isted, Odwa Lindokuhle Makanda, Lwando Dutyulwa, Kayla Schultze, Lewellyn Afrika, Farnel Smart, Mia Labuschagne and Gabrielle Fairhead, along with an excellent supporting cast.

Lighting design throughout is crafted by the award-winning and highly sought-after Wilhelm Disbergen. Disbergen has a unique gift for lighting dance that is innovative, impactful and passionately driven by quality, precision and dedication.

The management, creative team and artists of the Cape Dance Company are single-minded in their vision for the future artistic development of the company, an unwavering determination to redefine a dance landscape that is reflective of a 21st-century global sensibility while, most importantly, maintaining and progressing the establishment of a definitively African artistic identity.

INTERPLAY runs at the Artscape Theatre on 4 and 8-11 November at 20:00, with a matinee on 11 November at 14:30. Tickets cost R130 to R200 and booking for both programmes of work is online through Computicket or by phone on Artscape Dial-a-Seat on 021-4217695.

INTERPLAY is supported by the National Arts Council, Food Lover's Market, Business & Arts South Africa and the Western Cape Government. The Cape Dance Company thanks them all for their continued investment in the Arts.

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