Secrets in �X� impress audience
Dumisani Ncube | Wednesday April 29, 2015 18:00
It was all thanks to the Sky Blue Dance Crew who masterfully displayed the set on stage.
The production was indeed a colourful spectacle that had the audience so glued to the stage they could not even blink. It was as if the audience had been forewarned: “You blink, you miss, and when you miss you sink.” Different elements such as stage set up, costumes, lighting, music and the dance moves were a delight to both the eye and the ear.
Despite the play starting a bit late, the youthful dancers where an energetic lot on stage as their dance moves seemed to blend with the lighting and the beautiful melodies radiating from the stage. It started with all the production dancers walking on stage, all exhibitting a puzzled and troubled expression.
Apparently, the expression was a reflection a society troubled by secrets and while they still at it, African traditional music rumbled in the background. X, which is based on a story about secrets in the society, how they (secrets) evolve, how they have evolved and what effect they have on individuals.
Individual and group dance acts were presented during the play by the likes of Wabo Motiki, Faith Rapoo, Game Tshireletso and Tumisang Baatshwana. It depicted the dancers as ordinary members of society who are haunted by their past secrets, which they try to hide while some are trying to solve the secretive issues as a family, but still fail.
A number of dance moves, including Latin, kwaito contemporary and hip-hop, were fused in the X act. The music, which was directed by Umbambi Ndiwenyu, played a part in telling the X storyline. The mood of the music was in line with scenes of the play.
For instance, there was a part where dancers displayed emotions of having given up on their secretive issues. In the meantime the dancers had borrowed a line “Andazi Ndiyocinga Ntoni” (I do not know what I will do) from a Xhosa track by Thandiswa Mazwai. Simultaneous to the musical piece, a male voice, laced with untold melancholy, repeatedly asked “W---h---y? W---h---y?” in the background. A variety of music genres from different artists such as Miriam Makeba, Thandiswa Mazwai, Bondo De Role and Spoek Mathambo were fused during the play into a musical piece. The highlight of the dance theatre was one of the last pieces wherein X creative director Tumisang Baatshwana played the role of an abusive wife who was oppressing her husband. This led to the man keeping the abuse as a secret that troubled him to keep. Towards the last stanza of the play, the society came together to face the secrets and solve the issues affecting them. Working together as a unit, the society managed to banish the secrets from their midst.
The audience was greatly impressed by the act as they gave a round of applause and whistles when the play ended. X creative director Batswana stated that the enthusiasm that the audience expressed during the play motivated the crew. The crew found strength in the support they got from the audience and as a result it kept them going throughout the masterpiece, which they had been rehearsing for the past two months.