SIGN IN YOUR ACCOUNT TO HAVE ACCESS TO DIFFERENT FEATURES

FORGOT YOUR PASSWORD?

FORGOT YOUR DETAILS?

AAH, WAIT, I REMEMBER NOW!

Ludus Dance

We're always happy to chat! Call: 07598765915
  • LOGIN
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Our Impact
    • Meet the Team
  • Programmes
    • Dance Classes
    • Artists
    • GROW
  • Past Projects
    • Creative Intensive
    • BORDERLINES
    • Ludus Youth Dance Company
    • State of Flux 2.0
    • The Promenade of Galaxies
  • Schools
    • Miss Baines
    • The Alien Needs Our Help
  • Ludus Dance @50
  • Contact Us
  • Home
  • Ludus Dance Blog
  • Artist Development
  • Phinda-Mzala – how the language of dance and the power of technology work together when Gauteng comes to Lancaster
0
Tuesday, 12 February 2019 / Published in Artist Development, Ludus Dance News

Phinda-Mzala – how the language of dance and the power of technology work together when Gauteng comes to Lancaster

What?

On a murky, grey day in Lancaster our bi-weekly professionals class, which is usually peer led, had a little bit of sunshine added to it last week when it was led, on Skype, by Phinda-Mzala in Gauteng in South Africa.

Who?

Phinda-Mzala use their artistic practice to spread health messages in disadvantaged areas of the community around HIV/Aids, substance abuse, and environmental issues, inspired by their diverse background in poetry, music, gumboots dance and theatre.

How?

Via the power of video call, in our dance studio in Lancaster, the dance professionals learned Pantsula and Gumboot dances, as well as something of the history behind them and the associated culture …

“The whole set up was a little bit mind blowing to me,” says Emily Davies a North West professional dance artist who works across Cumbria and Lancaster, who was part of the experience:

“Having never been taught through the medium of video call, I was intrigued to how the exchange with South Africa’s Phinda-Mzala would work, when I arrived at Ludus Dance last Thursday morning. As a regular attendee of the peer led professional class at Ludus, I have enjoyed many opportunities to be taught by a range of artists and companies, practising varied styles and techniques under the contemporary dance umbrella.

However last Thursday’s cultural exchange, with the dancers from Phinda-Mzala, was something very different to the norm!

The session involved learning styles of dance traditional to South Africa, combined with discussion time where we found out about the origins of the dance styles and their place in South African culture today. Learning the sequences in both the Pantsula and Gumboot forms of dance was interesting, not just in terms of engaging in a different style of movement, but also the teaching style, and how this was perhaps affected by the technology in place.

As always, technology is never perfect, there was the odd glitch or lag in the connection that impacted the sound, but Phinda-Mzala were able to communicate the dance to us through the movement itself, so this did not matter. And, as the session continued, the use of non-verbal exchange became ever more prevalent, evidencing the power that dance has to communicate not just theme and narrative, but information across continents.

It would be great to see further examples of this being used in the dance community and beyond, crossing the boundaries of how we communicate, learn and develop our dance practice. I’m looking forward to seeing how the partnership between Ludus Dance and Phinda Mzala will progress!

Take a look at Phinda-Mazala 

Tagged under: development, international, opportunities, professionals, technology

What you can read next

Ludus Dance recognised in cultural education awards
Spotlight On: Good Grief (Part 1 of 2)
Job Vacancy – Dance Development Officer

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

SHARE OUR BLOG

Blog Categories

  • Artist Development
  • Classes
  • Commercial Hire
  • Dance Events
  • Dance in Education
  • Early Years
  • eating disorders
  • Heritage
  • Ludus Dance News
  • Opportunities
  • Performance
  • Uncategorized
  • Wedding Dances
  • Youth Dance

Ludus Dance Newletter

We want to stay in touch!

MENU

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Programmes
  • Artists
  • Schools
  • Dance Classes
  • Contact Ludus Dance
  • Cookie Policy
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Programmes
  • Artists
  • Schools
  • Dance Classes
  • Contact Ludus Dance
  • Cookie Policy

© 2018 Ludus Dance. All rights reserved.
Ludus Dance is a Company limited by guarantee registered in England No. 7729308 and a registered charity.
Charity registration No. 1144163

TOP

Social Chat is free, download and try it now here!

Skip to content
Open toolbar Accessibility Tools

Accessibility Tools

  • Increase TextIncrease Text
  • Decrease TextDecrease Text
  • GrayscaleGrayscale
  • High ContrastHigh Contrast
  • Negative ContrastNegative Contrast
  • Light BackgroundLight Background
  • Links UnderlineLinks Underline
  • Readable FontReadable Font
  • Reset Reset