Dance Umbrella celebrates its 30th edition this year. South Africa’s first dance festival, this annual contemporary dance festival showcases an outstanding array of new choreography and international collaborations by leading names in South African dance with 20 exciting new dance productions on the programme.

This year the festival takes place at Wits Theatre, Newtown’s Dance Factory, the UJ Centre for the Arts and Nelson Mandela Square. See the full programme online at danceforumsouthafrica.co.za.

Highlights of the 2018 festival include:

​Double Bill: Mayhem and Gula Matari
06.03 and 07.03 at 19:30
Multi-award-winning choreographers Gregory Maqoma and Vincent Mantsoe kick off Dance Umbrella 2018 with a double bill of their newest works Mayhem and Gula Matari. Reflecting on the current state of confusion in South Africa (and the world for that matter), Maqoma's Mayhem is a work of suspense and chaos that holds a mirror up to humanity. Meanwhile in Gula Matari, Vincent Mantsoe imagines his dancers as birds, using delicate movements and gestures to communicate in a wordless sphere.
Takes place at UJ Centre for the Arts.

​put your heart under your feet … and walk!
08.03 and 09.03 at 21:00
Steven Cohen’s latest work titled; put your heart under your feet … and walk!, is an intense meditation on loss, grief and absence that Cohen created following the death of his partner and artistic collaborator, the dancer Elu, in 2016. Cohen and Elu first collaborated on Dance Umbrella in 1998 and put your heart under your feet … and walk! debuted at the Montpellier Danse festival in 2017. Not suitable for younger viewers.
Takes place at Wits Theatre.

Hillbrowification
09.03 at 18:00 and 10.03 at 14:30
Starring 21 youth (aged 5 to 22) from the Hillbrow Theatre Project and three professional dancers, Hillbrowification explores a Hillbrow of the future, with the cast also presenting a visual interpretation of their personal experiences and perceptions of xenophobia and violence in the city.
Hillbrow Theatre

13.03 and 14.03 at 18:00
Slice by Slice
Provocative dancer, choreographer, actress and artist Robyn Orlin teams up with rising dance stars Albert Khoza and Thabo Pule for this new production inspired by Mozart’s Requiem. In And So You See…. Our Honourable Blue Sky And Ever-Enduring Sun… Can Only Be Consumed Slice By Slice the trio travel through the seven deadly sins only to find themselves face-to-face with the world’s norms.
Takes place at Dance Factory, Newtown.

15.03 and 16.03 at 19:30
Embracing Gravity
Leading South African dance company Moving into Dance Mophatong (MIDM) presents a triple bill infused with their trademark Afrofusion technique. Featuring newly commissioned works by past and present dancers, Embracing Gravity also includes a special tribute to the founder of MIDM, Sylvia ‘Magogo’ Glasser.
Takes place at Wits Theatre.

17.03 at 20:00 and 18.03 at 14:30
Doll
Choreographer Owen Lonzar and award-winning theatre director Sylvaine Strike join forces to present this new production that follows the life of a doll ordered online. A smart meditation on notions of ownership, desire, disappointment, objectification and sexual harassment.
Takes place at Wits Theatre.