This year marks the 50th anniversary of Jazzart Dance Theatre. To commemorate the occasion, the contemporary dance company is launching a year-long celebration of performances and cultural activities under the banner ’50 Years of Dance.’
These events will highlight the company’s rich history and influential cultural reach, as well as honour the many dancers, choreographers, teachers and leaders who have built and continue to build the organisation.
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Jazzart has made significant contributions to arts and culture, heritage, youth development and job creation since its inception in 1973 and has been at the forefront of the dance industry, pushing the boundaries of African contemporary dance and exploring the country’s rich culture.

Marcus Desando, Chairperson of the Board, says of this celebration: ‘In this important milestone year for Jazzart, we believe it is an ideal time to showcase our cultural offering as a longstanding dance company and training institution that has successfully grown and contributed to dance for half a century.’
He adds, ‘Dance is an exceptional expression of self, circumstance and narrative and is probably more important now than it has ever been, in a time where the world is needing creative outlets to “let go”.’

Echoing Desando’s comments, Managing Director of the NPO, Averil Barry-Hughes, remarked on the achievements, saying: ‘I am enormously proud of what this company has accomplished over its five decades, especially the incredible social impact it has had on youth across the country.’
Jazzart, according to Barry-Hughes, is proof that passion, not body shape, gender, or age, is required for dance.
Diarise the performances:
The ’50 Years of Dance’ celebration will kick off with an exciting international production and world premiere of ‘Requiem: Journeys of the Soul,’ choreographed by Jazzart’s Artistic Director Dane Hurst in collaboration with Phoenix Dance Theatre and Opera North.
It includes two new dance works set to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s classical music masterpiece Requiem’ and a new composition, ‘After Tears,’ by celebrated South African composer Neo Muyanga. The production will have its world premiere at the Leeds Grand Theatre from 26 May to 4 June 2023, with 16 dancers and 40 opera singers plus a live orchestra.
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The company dancers will then return to South Africa to take part in the National Arts Festival in Makhanda from 30 June to 2 July. On the home front, the new cohort of trainees from the three-year dance training programme led by newly appointed training manager Celeste Botha will perform in-studio from July 4-8. Jazzart enthusiasts are invited to witness the beginning of these young artists’ journey.
This evening of dance will feature a day in the life of a Jazzart trainee dancer’ and will include a new work by Sifiso Kweyama, the previous artistic director.

Jazzart will tour throughout the rest of the year, culminating in the premiere of Jazzart Dance Theatre’s Meraki Festival. The festival will take place at Artscape from 5 to 15 October and will feature a number of celebrated and multi-award-winning local and national choreographers, dancers and companies, including Cape Town Opera, Cape Philharmonic Orchestra and UK-based Phoenix Dance Theatre, in the remounting of Requiem, Journeys of the Soul.
With an exciting, poignant and thought-provoking programme celebrating the power and longevity of contemporary dance, the Jazzart anniversary celebration promises to be a true celebration of dance across South Africa and beyond.
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Picture: Paul Green / Unsplash