Documentary: Indoni Dance’s journey behind its powerful, Locked Doors, Behind Doors, premieres at Artscape Women’s Humanity Arts Festival, 2021

Documentary: Indoni Dance’s, Locked Doors, Behind Doors- the journey to create the performance- premieres at The Artscape Women’s Humanity Arts Festival, August 16-31, 2021

On May 1, 2021, Indoni Dance, Arts and Leadership Academy, performed in front of the Hostel 33 at Lwandle Migrant Labour Museum, with its powerful and stirring new work, Locked Doors, Behind Doors. A documentary was made: Locked Doors, Behind Doors -the journey taken to create the performance. The documentary provides insights into creating the work, during lockdown by Indoni’s award winning artistic director, Sbonakaliso Ndaba and the creative process with the company members, researching migrant labour in South Africa. The documentary includes footage from the rehearsals and performance. A performance of the dance piece is scheduled for February 2022, on stage, at Artscape. Info supplied:

“LOCKED DOORS, BEHIND DOORS”……the journey taken to create the performance

This documentary includes the many stories that outline the creative processes when developing a new dance production and includes highlights taken during the rehearsals and performance, directed and edited by Mandala Films

Indoni Dance, Arts and Leadership Academy researched concepts and developed relevant choreography for their major new production “Locked Doors, Behind Doors”, a work that explores South Africa’s silenced, almost forgotten, history of slave and migrant labour. They explored the stark reality of their recent lives during the many months of the Covid 19 pandemic, when home no longer equalled a place of safety and comfort but induced feelings of powerlessness, frustration and despair.

Indoni then documented their research into previous generations of migrant labourers and slaves, all who lived and worked under conditions even more appalling and restricted. They visited the Iziko Slave Lodge and Lwandle Migrant Labour Museum.  The choreography they developed under the direction of the award winning Sbonakaliso Ndaba, acknowledges these generations, those whose sacrifices helped to forge the nation that is South Africa.

A full rehearsal at the site on April 30^th was followed by the first and only performance to date of “Locked Doors, Behind Doors” on May 1^st in front of the Hostel 33 at Lwandle Migrant Labour Museum. The performance formed part of the 21^st anniversary celebrations of the museum. A season featuring the full performance of “Locked Doors, Behind Doors” is scheduled for the Artscape Centre in February 2022.

This documentary takes audiences deeper into the workings of a unique South African dance company who perform in the African Contemporary genre. It covers various themes: What is the life of a professional dancer? What are the relevant links between the lives of the dancers and the lives of those commemorated in the Lwandle Migrant Labour Museum and the Iziko Slave Lodge? How does the choreographer, working together with the dancers, create an exciting, dynamic and relevant new production?

The creation and performance of “Locked Doors, Behind Doors” was developed in partnership with the Goethe-Institut South Africa as part of the Goethe-Institut Project Space (GPS), together with additional funding from BASA, and the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture’s Presidential Employment Stimulus Programme Stream 2 funding via the NAC.

Sbonakaliso Ndaba began her career in the performing arts in 1992 with Jazzart Dance Theatre under the direction of Alfred Hinkel for 8 years. She went on to co-found the PHENDUKA Dance Theatre in Durban, and then to teach and choreograph for Jazzart, Moving into Dance and many others.

In 2014, Ndaba took under her wing, five unemployed youth from the township of Khayelitsha who had studied dance in school. Funded initially from her back pocket, Sbonakaliso decided to train them professionally as dancers. From this passionate endeavor, with the help of additional founding members, evolved Indoni Dance Arts and Leadership Academy with Sbonakaliso as its Artistic Director. 

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