2008 Woodie Awards
South African dance group visits SDSU
Juxtapower has performed in front of former presidents and at Miss World Competition.
Brittany Westerberg
Issue date: 3/12/08 Section: News
For students looking for an event with people costumed in prehistoric caveman motif, with the entertainers combining traditional South African dance with ballet and hip hop along with sketch humor and drama, look no further.
Juxtapower, which will perform at the Performing Arts Center on March 12 at 8 p.m., showcases Zulu/Suthu praise singing, dialogue, traditional songs, Zulu dance (foot stomping warrior dance), ballet technique, gum boot dance (rhythmic movement), hip hop and a touch of American stepping, according to their Web site, www.juxtapower.com.
"I was so impressed by Juxtapower that I had to try to bring them to SDSU," Brady Mallory, the showcase coordinator for the University Program Council-which is sponsoring the event-said.
Juxtapower tells about the conflict and success that the South African culture has experienced in the years since the end of Apartheid, according to the Web site. "It offers significant lessons about the land, history and its people, as well as their continued struggles and blessings under the new democratic government," it said.
Juxtapower originated in 1999 in New York City. Sduduzo Ka-Mbili, who was born in Engonyameni, a rural area in Durban, South Africa, started the group.
"We're storytellers," Ka-Mbili said on the Web site.
Ka-Mbili is a dancer, choreographer, actor, teacher and animal activist. He was nominated as one of the 25 to watch by Dance Magazine in 2003 and his work has been reviewed by the New York Times and the Washington Post.
"[The] African-flavored dance (choreographed by Sduduzo Ka-Mbili) in loincloth was a bit of a shocker in the midst of jigs, reels and bouncing curls," read the Washington Post press review. "Still, it was such a standout and the dancing so skilled that no one who attended [the] concert is likely to ever forget the Africa-banjo connection."
Ka-Mbili was later joined by his brother, Solomon Bafana Matea, as well as Kelly Boyd and Charmaine Trotman.
Juxtapower, which will perform at the Performing Arts Center on March 12 at 8 p.m., showcases Zulu/Suthu praise singing, dialogue, traditional songs, Zulu dance (foot stomping warrior dance), ballet technique, gum boot dance (rhythmic movement), hip hop and a touch of American stepping, according to their Web site, www.juxtapower.com.
"I was so impressed by Juxtapower that I had to try to bring them to SDSU," Brady Mallory, the showcase coordinator for the University Program Council-which is sponsoring the event-said.
Juxtapower tells about the conflict and success that the South African culture has experienced in the years since the end of Apartheid, according to the Web site. "It offers significant lessons about the land, history and its people, as well as their continued struggles and blessings under the new democratic government," it said.
Juxtapower originated in 1999 in New York City. Sduduzo Ka-Mbili, who was born in Engonyameni, a rural area in Durban, South Africa, started the group.
"We're storytellers," Ka-Mbili said on the Web site.
Ka-Mbili is a dancer, choreographer, actor, teacher and animal activist. He was nominated as one of the 25 to watch by Dance Magazine in 2003 and his work has been reviewed by the New York Times and the Washington Post.
"[The] African-flavored dance (choreographed by Sduduzo Ka-Mbili) in loincloth was a bit of a shocker in the midst of jigs, reels and bouncing curls," read the Washington Post press review. "Still, it was such a standout and the dancing so skilled that no one who attended [the] concert is likely to ever forget the Africa-banjo connection."
Ka-Mbili was later joined by his brother, Solomon Bafana Matea, as well as Kelly Boyd and Charmaine Trotman.
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