Jazzart Dance Theatre Unveils New Corporate Identity

With 2017 coming to an end, Jazzart Dance Theatre celebrated its rich legacy and its future plans by unveiling its new corporate identity at a special event on 24 November at Youngblood Arts and Culture Development's Gallery.

Sifiso Kweyama, the artistic director of Jazzart, related his vision to develop an African Contemporary Dance aesthetic that draws inspiration from our historic and cultural past and which interprets and engages with our African present in all its diversity and complexity to shape, influence and positively affect our African future. He said:

Jazzart has evolved over the years into a strong identity and it is time for us to develop an image that reflects who we are now. It was an invigorating next step in our evolution as a proudly South African contemporary dance company.

Kweyama, along with Jazzart's Board of Directors, Malcolm Higgins, Warona Seane, Janine Daries, Marcus Desando, Rashid Lombard and Richard Rhoda, shared the strategic thinking behind the vision, mission and the corporate identity.

The new corporate identity material was designed by Christelle Dreyer and the Jazzart team. A fresh and simple design was chosen with only two colours. Grey, being neither black or white but a combination of both as well as a transition between the two, symbolises the maturity of the organisation, a stable base from which the new and positive can come. Orange, the second colour, which was also in the old logo, remains to symbolise continuity as well as a fusion of the energy and stimulation of red with the cheerfulness of yellow, portraying the everyday feeling of our trainees and dancers as they learn and grow in our studio and on stage, celebrating the uniqueness of their bodies and using them as creative instruments.

Malcolm Higgins, the chair the board, continues describing the meaning behind the new logo:

We believe the figure is non-gender and reflects the new Jazzart language of dance. The emphasis on ZA depicts our uniquely South African dance philosophy that is rooted in the diversity of the culture and traditions of our country. We would like to thank our staff for their unwavering dedication, our old and new Board of Directors, Artscape Theatre Centre, Funders, Teachers, Community Partners and Alumni for their support in our endeavours to positively impact the lives of our dancers who dream and live through dance.

The evening ended with a short performance by Jazzart's third-year trainees. Joining them were the trainees of their three-month training programme currently running in Tokia with Jazzart's partner, Chrysalis Academy.

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