A rousing, explosive embodiment of Pantsula
Via Katlehong are an award-winning dance company which began as a community troupe back in 1992. Each black township of South Africa has their own version of Pantsula, a tradition and highly energetic dance form originating in the apartheid era, and Via Katlehong’s is full-bodied, explosive and rebellious. Given the audience reaction at their Sadler’s Wells debut, it’s also incredibly infectious.
The dancers are exceptional and, at times, almost impossibly tight—especially given the occasional rhythmic ambiguity of the backing tracks. Every movement is precise and supported by a physicality and stamina that reminded me to download that Couch to 5k app. Every dancer, regardless of body type, pulsated with energy as if to leave no doubt that this style of dancing comes from within.
For the first work in the show, førm Inførms, Marco da Silva Ferreira explores the collective identity of the dance. Beginning with Thulisile Binda alone, without music, the others watching on, brings a rawness which focuses the audience on the idea of isolation: of person and body parts. It’s a captivating watch and establishes the power and full-bodied nature of Pantsula. There’s something uncomfortable in this opening, too, in the confronting eye contact and facial expressions. Something voyeuristic. Ferreira’s reminder, perhaps, of the political aspects; we are not here for joy alone. That the first half ends with a literal tearing up of the middle of the stage, of the line of division, speaks to such a motive.
In the interval, as we prepare for Act Two, we are invited to join a party, complete with DJ, and meet some personalities for a moment. Audience interaction is a must, not that we need convincing from these irresistible performers.
In Emaphakathini, the second work, Amala Dianor draws on the personal histories of the performers to pull down boundaries. The aim is to create a common new space, an “in-between space”, or Emaphakathini in Zulu. Suddenly, we are firmly in a club and the land of spontaneity. The stage pulses and fizzes with energy and we hear whistling, stamping, clapping and whooping, often from the audience, too. We witness small relationships and stories in this environment but are always drawn back to the collective, to what is shared, to community.
Throughout the entire show, the dancers weave together and apart with impressive fluidity, always part of the pack and contributing to something greater than themselves. Watching them, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the universality of dance. Not only because of the accessibility found through the troupe’s fervour, but also because I could spot other dance styles and moves amidst the choreography, from tap-dance to pop-and-lock to pin-drops to shuffles.
Some of the early abstraction lost me, or at least confused me (which could have been the point), and there were moments when the stories in the second section seemed weak and there merely for the sake of action.
But that’s nothing against the backdrop of relentless, effervescent passion these dancers bring to the stage. It’s a show dripping with authenticity and yes, universality, but necessity, too—for expression, for release, for liberation.
Long may Via Katlehong continue, and long may Sadler’s Wells and Dance Umbrella platform troupes like them.