"Via injabulo - Emaphakatini" - Amala Dianor - Extracts

Founded in 1992, the Via Katlheong Dance company, led by Buru Mohlabane and Steven Faleni, was named after the East Rand township, a poor district where pantsula counter-culture was born. With its strong community identity, Via Katlehong Dance pursues an educative, cultural, and social mission with the youth of South Africa. The company has received several international awards for its creations bringing together pantsula traditions and other South African dances like gumboot and step. Like hip hop in the United States and in Europe, pantsula culture is a lifestyle and includes fashion, music, dance, as well as body language and slang. Those dances are performed with a shared energy and rhythm. By shouting, whistling, stomping their feet, and clapping, the audience takes part in the celebration, symbol of a certain lust for life. The dancers of Via Katlehong regularly invite international choreographers to work with them, such as Marco da Silva Ferreira and Amala Dianor this year.