Autumn Tour 2007 & Spring 2008
Chatsva
(Explosion)
Tavaziva Dance's six outstanding dancers explode onto stages across the UK
this autumn and spring 2008 with typical high octane performances.
'Chatsva' continues to explore African dance traditions within a Western contemporary style to music
ranging from Zimbabwean choral to the cello compositions of Sophie Rivlin.
Bawren Tavaziva presents the dancers in contrasting moods, from lighthearted,
exuberant contest
(Makwikwi) to a powerful new solo
(Mr Man)
inspired by the poet Coleridge's impassioned public outburst
against the evils of slavery. The determination of the persecuted to affirm identity and belief is brought out in
Pachedu.
Completing the programme,
Thea Nerissa Barnes stages
Last Word ,
her wittily engaging duet for two dancers... and a chair.
Costumes for
'Chatsva' are designed and made by
Abigail Hammond http://www.meledesign.co.uk
You can see some of her designs for Tavaziva Dance at the Victoria & Albert Museum in their Collaborators exhibition of
UK Design for Performance,
open until November 2008.
http://www.vam.ac.uk/tco
'Chatsva' kicks off in Swindon on October 5th and 6th and will be danced by Samson Felo, Amanda Lewis, Lerato Lipere,
Shelley-Ann Maxwell, Anna Watkins and Nicholas Watson.
Makwikwi (to test/ contest)
“I based this work on the individual dancers in the company. They all have different training and cultures. I have taken
advantage if this unique situation to create a vibrant, light hearted, humorous piece that shows off the dancers' unique
personalities and backgrounds.“ (Bawren Tavaziva)
Pachedu (“Don't tell me what to believe and how to live.“)
When people are persecuted in today's society they band together, become stronger, more patriotic and strengthen their
beliefs and ideas. This piece is also warning others: “ Don't tell me what you think I should do or how I should behave;
I know who I am.“
Mr Man
Exploring the abolition of slavery and new-found freedom, this powerful and contemplative solo, set to a haunting combination of
cello and choir, was developed from a commission by Take Art! Somerset to mark the bicentenary of the 1807 Slave Trade Abolition
Act. Inspired by the Somerset-based Romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge's uplifting address against slavery, Mr Man challenges
audiences to reflect on the real notion of freedom.
Last Word
Guest choreographer Thea Nerissa Barnes, former Artistic Director of Phoenix Dance and Rehearsal Director
for the West End's The Lion King, sets her wittily engaging 15-minute duet Last Word on the Tavaziva dancers. Last Word features two
dancers and a chair and is set to Philip Flood's engagingly deconstructed take on classic songs by the 1930's legendary performer
Josephine Baker.
“A great company... their seamless blend of contemporary and traditional African movement, strikingly costumed and lit“
(The Independent, 2007)
“A tribal sense of combat, but also of ecstasy... intensely uplifting, enchanting and energetic, and typically demonstrative of
the pure joy of dance“
(Dancing Times, 2007)
“Intriguing and deeply sensuous... nothing short of explosive“
(The Stage, 2006)
