South African dance book gets UEL contribution
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Published
01 December 2023
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A new book commemorating the 25th anniversary of one of Africa’s longest running contemporary dance festivals has been published, with a chapter written by one of UEL’s experts in the art form.
Dr Sarahleigh Castelyn, Reader in Performing Arts at the School of Arts and Creative Industries contributed a section to Archiving History and Memory: 25 Years of the JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience about the festival’s overseas collaborations.
JOMBA! has a long history of international performers taking part, with dancers and dance companies coming from countries including the UK, Nigeria, Reunion, USA, Netherlands, Senegal, India, Mozambique and Finland.
The artistic director of JOMBA!, Dr Lliane Loots, said the book’s publication was especially significant as a way of making sure African creative history was not forgotten. She said,
This book is offered as an archival project that holds an activist agenda and fights for carefully and methodically curated creative African histories to be remembered and honoured.”
The book features a photographic essay of carefully selected festival images taken over the years by award-winning photographer Val Adamson, who has documented the festival from its very beginning. The book’s editor, Ballantyne Webber said, “We have tried through the photographic and editorial content to celebrate the 25-year journey, showcasing its rich history and the incredible archive of the South African dance landscape.”
Dr Castelyn grew up in South Africa herself and has written extensively about dance in that country. Last year she published a book Contemporary Dance in South Africa: The Toyi-Toying Body. Her work focuses on race, gender, sexuality and power in apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa. As well as her academic work she is also a performer and choreographer, appearing at the JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Festival, The Playhouse, and the National Arts Festival, all in South Africa.
Separately, over the summer, UEL dance student Ella-Hope Barrington-Bailey took part in KHULUMA, a dance review writing residency that is part of the JOMBA! dance festival.
Purchase the book that Dr Castelyn has contributed to.
Purchase Dr Castelyn’s book on South African contemporary dance.