‘Udodana’ negotiates culture, religion and the body
A review of Musa Hlatshwayo by Marcia Mzindle
We continued the week still in high spirits of celebrating two decades of JOMBA! on Tuesday, 5th of September. Drawing from memory, lived experience, current incidents and personal testimonies, 2018 Standard Bank Young Artist Award Winner, KZN-based choreographer Musa Hlatshwayo presented “Udodana” at the Sneddon Theatre, received by a standing ovation.
Hlatshwayo opened up about his process for his current work “Udodana,” sharing that it’s comprised of research from his background, research on the body and studying body language in order to be able to transfer that knowledge found into a bodily (dance) language leading to inception of “Udodana.”
White lilium candidum sit carefully placed in white buckets in a row from front to back on the both sides of the stage. Small white bowls filled with ubulungo placed in a straight line moving from stage left to right are arranged up and downstage. White and green bottles tied in a cluster are hung like chandeliers, which I interpreted to be a heavy yoke, placed as a reminder of the fragile, yet heavy burden placed on the African male. Hlatshwayo, standing centre stage with a bouquet of white lilies in left hand, presses a large glass bottle with red fluid against his genitals, erected as if to show, or hold onto, his manhood. A video in black and white plays on the cyclorama, a repeated sequence of the dancers (Njabulo Zungu, Brilliant Mthethwa, Wandile Nodliwa, Sphakeme Shangase, Tebogo Mncwabe, Sibusiso Ngcobo, Lucky “Dyroach” Sicwa and Cebo Mthembu) walking in an old, run-down church, dressed in traditional Zulu attire and bare feet. Their faces appear seeking, longing and confused. All set the mood of what is to be expected as we walked into the theatre to take our seats.
Masculinity of the African (Zulu) male is put into a microscope as I am absorbed in this performance and watch Nodliwa gently trying to lean head first onto the shoulder of Mthethwa, a taller, stockier man. He is pushed off in a sequence that, in my mind, told a story of how boys grow to men and have been told and expected not to be soft, told not to cry nor to show any emotion except courage. Powerful cultural dynamics were heavily embedded in the performance. The sounds of live drumming with a precise and effortless concoction of contemporary dance with traditional Zulu dance wooed us in the 75-min high-energy dance. It was vigorous and intense from beginning to end.
“A house filled with white lilies is a peaceful home,” is Hlatshwayo’s opening sentence to the dedication of the chosen flowers in reference to his father’s passing. A moving revelation of how they, close as they were, had never embraced while his father was alive. It’s a story I imagine is not only his, due to the culture and tradition of many African males.
Hlatshwayo, when asked in a sit down with JOMBA! artistic director Lliane Loots, spoke of what he had hoped would be the influence “Udodana” brings. He responded in saying he wants “to create sparks of dialogue that would evoke societal changes in the way that black men are viewed, and, in the way, they are believed to behave.” A conversation has been sparked, and a veil lifted. We need to question our thinking and expectations, and delve deeper on the topic of black masculinities.
Echoing the celebration for the night, we congratulate Mduduzi “Mdu” Mtshali, a Durban-based dancer, choreographer and currently a dance teacher at the Durban University of Technology, for being awarded the Eric Shabalala Dance Champion award. Mtshali receives this award in recognition of growing the culture of dance and dance training in the city of Durban. May you continue to inspire and cultivate tirelessly the culture of contemporary dance. The dance community salutes you.
