Hatched Ensemble

Mamela Nyamza

Live performance

LE GRAND SUD, Lille
70min
Pass Latitudes

The choreographer and activist Mamela Nyamza invites 12 performers to revisit one of her first solo works: the result is HATCHED ENSEMBLE, which gives off a radical energy and beauty, deliberately exploding norms and constraints.

Mamela Nyamza, a South African choreographer and activist, had an immense, international success with her solo Hatched, which premiered in 2007. Hatched is an autobiographical work which explores her multiple identities, as a mother, a lesbian, an artist and an activist. Then in 2023, Mamela Nyamza invited ten dancers of different ethnic origins to prolong the piece, deconstructing dance norms and standards, in HATCHED ENSEMBLE. They begin the piece wearing classical ballet pointe shoes, accompanied by an opera singer and a musician playing traditional African music, diving into the complexity of identitary conflicts in the face of tradition. By juxtaposing cultural influences through movement, music and costuming, the dancers find common ground in the shattering of conventions.

Accessibility infos :

English dialogues without subtitles
The show will be audio descripted in French

Before the show, a conference-debate on the invisibility of women in culture and the arts will take place with Mamela Nyamza, Hélène Frappat, Nicolas Truong, Morgane Bourhis, Jenny Bernardi and Réjane Sourisseau. Free with reservation.

With the support of the Lieux Culturels Pluridisciplinaires de la Ville de Lille

Biography(s)

The South African choreographer and art activist, Ms. Mamela Nyamza, is formally trained in Ballet, and got further training at the Alvin Ailey New York School of Dance as visiting scholar. This is where Nyamza began to tackle the classical genre of dance, by deconstructing the traditional methods and logic of ballet and contemporary dance.
Her newest work “HATCHED ENSEMBLE” – that is being performed by 10 ballet trained dancers from different ethnic backgrounds, conveying deeply personal and challenging issues of tradition and artists evolving experiences and gender norms within the dance classics, until they ultimately realize their own respective true identities within the arts and creative industry. The ultimate vision for Nyamza, is to make DANCE, as the genre of the performance art, to convey body politics on all social issues, and not to entertain but to edutain. Hence the creation of HATCHED ENSEMBLE and the establishment of her new non-profit company MAMELAS ARTISTIC MOVEMENT NPC.

Credits

Concept, Choreographer & Director : Mamela Nyamza
Lighting Designer/Technical Manager : David Hlatshwayo
Costume Co-designers : Mamela Nyamza & Bhungane Mehlomakulu
Opera Singer : Litho Nqai
African Traditional Multi-Instrumentalist : Given “Azah” Mphago
Rehearsal Manager : Kirsty Ndawo
Performance : Kirsty Ndawo, Kearabetswe Mogotsi, Khaya Ndlovu, Thamsanqa Ndlovu, Thimna Sitokisi, Itumeleng Chiloane, Amohelang Rooiland, Noluyanda Mqulwana, Zandile Constable, Tania Mteto
Coproduction : National Arts Council of South Africa (NAC) & Makhanda National Arts Festival of South Africa (NAF)
With the support of : Moving Into Dance (MID)