Letsatsi Dance Theatre of Botswana, in collaboration with Mogwana Traditional Song and Dance, will stage a production called ‘The Celebration of K’, on Friday 15 February 2013 at Botswanacraft. The evening will also feature a performance by the well-known the Unseen DJ. ‘The Celebration of K’ was first staged at Maitisong in October 2012 after a three-year long hiatus by Letsatsi Dance Theatre.
“Through the production, ‘The Celebration of K’, Letsatsi’s collaboration with Mogwana aims to create an artistic production cross-fed by ideas borne out of interaction between the modern and the traditional,” said Dr. Jean-Raoul Austin de Douillard, Letsatsi’s director-cum-choreographer.
“It is a bid to inject some variety into contemporary local dance theatre by combining the international flavour provided by Letsatsi and the traditional values of Mogwana. Its goal is to create something genuinely new while catering for the diverse combination of cultures in Botswana and contributing to the harmony of cultural differences within the country.”
The collaboration focuses on so-called ethnic forms of contemporary dance and theatre, following the dance techniques of the African-American choreographer and anthropologist, Kathrin Dunham.
The core of the group consists of seven actor-dancers, Bontle Mogwera, Arona Galeipone, Kelebogile Mercy Moremi, Mogorosi Pule, Thabang Molefe, Ithabeleng Letsunyane, Loago Quinto Tiro and two guests-actors, Molebi Mokobi and Tefo.
The language of the body, designed by Letsatsi’s choreographer, mimes ritual as well as fundamental drama, which are actually the substance of human adventure: love, sexuality, death, life, heartbreak, failure, solitude confrontation, attraction, defiance, oppression, and finally, transcendence.
According to Gaolope Basuhi, who leads Mogwana, ”The Celebration of K’ explores some of the most urgent challenges facing today’s youth in Botswana, such as school dropout, unemployment, teen pregnancy, and alcohol and drug abuse. Out of these challenges, and with the help of spiritual wisdom driven and expressed mainly through Botswana’s rich culture, a positive ending emerges.”
‘The Celebration of K’ features dramatic and aesthetic forms of dance and theatre taken from African traditions but re-imagined in the context of modern African society. Letsatsi Dance Theatre borrows from the present as well as the past to produce vibrant new dance forms that reveal its authentic African spirit.
