The FNB Dance Umbrella 2009 will celebrate 21 years of being the biggest open platform for new contemporary dance festival in Southern Africa.

Festival highlights to note are the new Commissioned works which include:

a new work from Juanita Finestone-Praeg called Inner Piece on February 27 and 28 at 19h00 at the Dance Factory. Nine reflective (a)musings on the Haiku form in three movements (1) emptiness (2) silence (3) light. The Japanese Haiku is regarded as the shortest form of poetry, with its 17 syllables apparently creating the perfect length of one outgoing breath ... this distilled economy and reduction of the Haiku form becomes a source for these nine performance experiments with silence and sound, movement and stasis, body and light. This collaborative exchange is devised as a series of interactive conversations between image, idea, light, the body and the trapeze.

>Gregory Maqoma’s new work Skeleton Dry at the Market Theatre on February 27 and 28 at 20h00. Skeleton Dry has been influenced by the Skeleton Coast, Namibia - an untouched, lifeless terrain. The myth is…'once one gets there they will not return'. It is also said though it is uninhabitable there is evidence of habitation (footprints and fossils) from the distant past. This evidence spurred Maqoma’s artistic inclination on to a path of research with regard to human decomposition to the point where flesh is no more…and subsequently no more bones, but fossils.

>Tracing, a collaboration piece by Joey Chua Poh Yi (Singapore) and Mcebisi Bhayi (South Africa) which looks at connecting Singapore and South Africa and takes place at The Dance Factory, Tuesday March 2 and Wednesday March 3 at 19h00. Bhayi, a South African Xhosa man who swears by his customs, and Chua, a Singaporean woman who can barely speak her Chinese dialect Hakka, decided to start a dialogue. After months of letter writing and intimate sharing of childhood memories, their exchange shifts to the present as they come face-to-face, finding both common ground and contrasts in each other's dance backgrounds, personalities and physicality. In this tracing of the minds and bodies of one another, they are hoping a new dance vocabulary will emerge from their joint creative journey.

>Sifiso Kweyama’s premiere of Watermelon takes place at the Dance Factory on March 4 and 5 at 19h00. Watermelon seeks to bring the told and untold stories of unemployed people to light through dance. What if the heart was a watermelon that needed water twice a day to keep it living? What happens if the heart does not get watered for two days, four days, two months? The inside of a watermelon moulds if it doesn’t get water and the heart is a watermelon that is thirsty for water.

>Inkomati (Dis)Cord, a new collaborative work from Boyzie Cekwana (South Africa) and Panaibra Gabriel Canda (Mozambique) which can be seen at the Wits Downstairs Theatre on Wednesday and Thursday, March 4 and 5 at 19h00. Inkomati stems from the then “historic” accord between the South African Apartheid government’s and Samora Machel’s non-aggression pact in the 1980’s. Unkomati is a river crossing South Africa, Swaziland and ultimately spills into the Indian Ocean in Mozambique. It crosses lands, people and lives, creating trajectories and pathways. With this creation, the artists will trace a journey of crossing differences, revealing how we look at ourselves and each other.

>a Triple Bill at the Wits Theatre on March 4 and 5 at 20h15 featuring:

- (Un) Spoken Conversations, choreographed by Mzansi Productions. This piece explores the concept of communication through the dance medium. (Un)Spoken Conversations allows the dancers to express emotions which are usually suppressed in our daily lives. The work consists of eight movements choreographed by various members of Mzansi Productions: Marc Goldberg, Tanya Futter, Casey Swales, Craig Arnolds, Mari-Louise Basson and Nicole McCreedy.

- Blink – Bling, Blackout, choreographed by Songezo Mchilizeli. This work aims to provide and focus on how intrinsic access is to life today. Discourse is emphasized upon the importance of success.

- Under Move 1524 choreographed by Mamela Nyamza… deathless face alight with your smile, you asked me what I suffered. Who was my cause of anguish, Who is now abusing you? Who is treating you cruelly?...for they seem to me to have love each other in their own way, she that of women, he that of men.

> a Double Bill on Monday March 9 and Tuesday March 10 at 19h00 will feature Moving into Dance Mophatong with Viiiiite and Besame Mucho choreographed by Michel Kelemenis (France) at The Wits Theatre:

- Viiiiite, or how to stage the evanescence of a danced movement. Here we’re in the condensed, visionary domain of an abstract dance. More than any other form or expression, this dance deploys its force by sharing the present. Its impact is measured from the standpoint of a subtle trace, the residual sensation after the performance of having been for a moment vulnerable, and therefore affected. However, it is only a question of visible elements that fade away, of movements that vanish as soon as they are danced.

- Michel Kelemenis’ Besame Mucho, created in 2004, further explores the symbolic and dramatic virtues of a kiss. It builds upon themes of unrequited desire, love frustration and solitude. In conjunction with the popular and well-known song Besame mucho, the dance oscillates between compulsion and refusal, at times with the music, at times in contradiction with the simple yet eternal message it communicates. Michel Kelemenis worked closely with the new generation of MIDM dancers to transmit his piece with an added African touch. Besame mucho is the result of a close relationship based on exchange and complicity with MIDM.

>Peter van Heerden returns to the Dance Umbrella with his new work Out Of The Eater Came Forth Meat Out Of The Strong Came Sweet, which can be seen on Monday and Tuesday, March 9 and 10 at 20h15 at the Wits Downstairs Theatre. This work is an interrogation of male identity. The work is created in and around research into the shifting historical perspective of the landscapes of South Africa from the colonial past to the democratic present. The performance work seeks closure and solace, and the building of other, new, reconciled identities.

>a Triple Bill at the Dance Factory on Wednesday and Thursday, March 11 and 12 at 19h00 featuring: Unravelling…. Carmen by Dada Masilo: Masilo intends to explore the different facets of Carmen’s personality. Carmen was considered to be a heartless monster, but underneath this, there is also tenderness, vulnerability, passion and more… other works on this programme includes Feel The Presence choreographed by Lawrence Ncube and Je Suis Chien choreographed by Gaby Saranouffi.

>Zebra, a new collaboration between PJ Sabbagha from The Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative (RSA) and Ivan Estegneev from Dialogue Dance Company and School (Russia). The Wits Theatre on March 11 and 12 at 20:00. The project will bring together men working in contemporary dance and physical theatre. The all male company will explore and challenge myths and preconceptions around the role and identity of men involved in contemporary dance and the arts. Zebra will delve into the both the private and public spaces that form part of our representations and expressions of male sexuality and sexual identity.

> a Mixed Bill at the Wits Theatre on March 13 and 14 at 20h15 is the final programme. It includes:

- Invocation - choreographed by Luyanda Sidiya, is inspired by how much we know about the knowledge of the past which determines were we going, the idea is to go back to the inception of our practices within our traditions, cultures and work within our art-form, which often regulates and dictate where we are and heading with our lives as artists, individuals, families, communities and as a nation;

- Motho Mang – Ke Mang- choreographed by Itumeleng Mokgope it features dancers from the South African Ballet Theatre. The inspiration of this work comes from the “stacking” or displaying of vehicle tyres in piles at the side of the road as often seen in local townships. This work is an exploration of the symbolic meaning of the tyre and what it reflects on life in this country

- Akundlela Engayi Ekhaya choreographed by Sifiso Majola. When you come to a point of no return because of previous unresolved challenges, some other challenges come into play. A decision is then contemplated and the decision you take will determine your future and you will have to live with it, with no regrets.

A highlight of this year’s Dance Umbrella calendar is the opening of THE DANCE SPACE.

Events to be held at the Dance Space during FNB Dance Umbrella 2009 include Face-to-Face discussions with selected choreographers and dancers; a photo exhibition; Dance film screenings; networking events; discussions and debates. Books and other dance material will also be on sale.

The Dance Space will definitely be the main space to meet and network during the FNB Dance Umbrella 2009. Visitors will also be able to enjoy refreshments and snacks while browsing through the brochure to decide where to go.

Address: Dance Space (old Moving into Dance Mophatong studios), 1 President Street, Newtown. Opening times: 09h00 – 22h00. Dance Umbrella festinos are invited to the inauguration of this dance-dedicated Space - for further information please call 082 570 3083.

The FNB Dance Umbrella 2009 has been made possible with assistance from First National Bank and the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund. Other partners include The French Institute of South Africa; The French Consul South Africa, Culturesfrance; Business and Arts South Africa; The Goethe-Institute of Johannesburg; and the Gauteng Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture.

The Media partner for 2009 is CLASSICFEEL magazine, an award-winning monthly magazine that brings the best in classical and jazz music, visual arts, film and theatre, as well as food and travel, to its readers. "To be part of this initiative is indeed a proud moment for CLASSICFEEL magazine as we believe that dance has transcended all boundaries in our country,’ says the magazine’s publisher, Lore Watterson. ‘Dance has proven to be a language that all South Africans understand with it being one of the most integrated art forms today, encompassing all cultures, languages and religions, something we fully support as our editorial policy.

Tickets for the FNB Dance Umbrella are available at the door or can be booked at www.ticket.co.za on 087 806 5001 and prices range from R60 to R100. Concessions/block bookings and subscription tickets are available. Bookings are open.

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