// The latest offering from Joel Leonard in partnership with Sketch Productions //
Wassup wassup fam. I hope you are all good and keeping safe. The heat is quite hectic on my side (in Bloemfontein) so I hope the weather is better on your end. Today we have a "feature article" on an upcoming production which you should not miss. I'll be sharing information about the collaboration between "My Body My Space - MBMS" and Sketch Productions, then I'll introduce you to the team behind the production, so let's get right into it.
MBMS 2021 and Sketch Productions will be premiering ‘Keitumetse’ in the World's first WhatsApp Arts Festival on the 29th of January 2021. It is an intimate duet that explores different themes such as happiness, self-awareness, radical joy and the importance of these concepts in our inner and outer worlds at large. Blending improvisation, contact work, somatic work and techniques borrowed from Capoeira, Keitumetse meditates on the concept of happiness by laughing, playing and dancing through it. Keitumetse was originally conceived by Hannah Van Tonder & Joël Leonard, as an improvised site specific solo in 2017, as part of their Movement Studies course at the Wits School of Arts. Four years later, the piece has now expanded, with Kutloano Headbush joining Hannah Van Tonder as the performers, make-up & costume design by Peaceful Thulare and videography & editing by Cody Van Wyk.
I had the opportunity to actually watch the production before publishing this blog post, however I decided to wait and watch it like everyone else on its official debut on the 29th of January. It's really great to see how a festival of dance performances, music, land-art, visual art and craft that takes place across Emakhazeni has decided to take initiative in still providing a program for their audiences, in the midst of the current challenges we face in the Arts, and Keitumetsi is just one of the events in their programming. Anyway, be sure to Whatsapp "HI" to (+27) 600110444 in order to witness this magical production for free. #MBMS21 #thefutureisnow
We're now going to get into more information about the the company - Sketch Productions and who exactly is behind the production of Keitumetse. For those who may not be familiar with the company, Sketch Productions is an independent performance art organisation, specializing in theatre, performance and production value. From South African original learner programs to main stream productions and film, to therapeutic, innovative and cutting edge work. The surety of their clients is that the company is run by an award winning artistic director, as well as a board of academics, inside the spheres of Theatre, film and social studies. The company’s directors are award winning professional scholars of their own works and the works of others locally, nationally and internationally. With all this being said, I'm sure you understand why I'm really excited and can't wait to see the production on the 29th. I actually haven't been able to watch their previous productions / work live in theater, but I've definitely come across some of their amazing work online. Moving onto the creative team, this who you need to know...
KEITUMETSE CREATIVE TEAM:
Directed by Joël Leonard
Co-created & Performed by Hannah Van Tonder & Kutloano Headbush
Makeup and Costume Designed by Peaceful Thulare
Director of photography & Edited by Cody Van Wyk
Produced by Sketch Productions & MBMS2021
Top left: Joël Leonard ; Peaceful Thulare ; Cody van Wyk
Bottom left: Hannah Nokwazi van Tonder ; Kutloano
Director: Joël Leonard is a young and current theatre maker based in Johannesburg, the City of Gold. He is a recent BADA graduate of the Wits School of Arts and has just completed his internship as a member of the Market Laboratory’s Kwasha! Theatre Company. He has been a practicing artist inside and outside of the theatre for five years, having recently directed ‘Peeling Shadows’ and performing in the multi award winning ‘The Art Of Facing Fear’. Joel is constantly experimenting with different mediums, forms and styles. He is excited to premiere Keitumetse at the first ever My body My Space 2021 (#MBMS2021) WhatsApp Festival that runs free of charge for public viewers.
Performer: Kutloano studied at the University of Cape Town and graduated with Bachelor of Art’s degree in dramatic arts and psychology. She went on to complete her honours degree in Dramatic arts at the University of the Witwatersrand. She has performed in multiple in-training production such as 2019 movement production titled ‘(011)2344837’, crafted and Performed by Kutloano Headbush and Vuyolwethu Majeke. Kutloano has perfomed in a solo movement piece, choreographed and performed by herslef titled ‘Sim(o)an Says’. Other productions that Kutloano has performed in include ‘Black Up!’, ‘Black Bodyz’ and ‘Antarabama’. Her work with Unmute Dance Company in 2019 has been part of her continued involvement in inclusive performance. A few of the dance productions she performed in collaboration with Unmute Dance Company include ‘Don’t Label Me’, ‘Sheba’, ‘Combination’ and ‘Kutloano’ which she co-choreographed.
Performer: Hannah Nokwazi van Tonder is a 24 year old small town girl who has completed an Honours degree in Dramatic arts, majoring in movement and directing, at the University of the Witwatersrand with two distinctions and has completed her Master of Arts in Social Anthropology at WITS as well. She is also the Co-owner of Sketch Productions, established in 2018 and completed two post graduate courses on the global campus of Human rights and at the Robben Island’s Museum in 2019/2020. Hannah’s Co-founded Company, Sketch Productions has won two awards at the National Arts Festival (2019) for the work ‘Fruit” Directed by Paul Noko. Hannah has just completed a season run of the company’s work METSI, where she wrote and directed, dramatruged by Paul Noko and mentored by Aubrey Sekhabi (2020). Hannah keeps herself busy with her Saturday classes where she teaches dance and drama to children in Soweto and running the Sketch Productions theatre company with Paul Noko.
Costume and Makeup Designer: Peaceful Thulare is a designer and illustrator who’s interests lie in the creative possibilities opened up through interdisciplinary and site-specific work, as well as playing with colour and texture.
Videographer and editor: Cody van Wyk is an exciting, young filmmaker who has good knowledge in the mechanics of camera work and creating still and moving images that are eye catching. He has a background in documentary work through vlog style videos and both site specific and theater based performance art. Cody constantly attempts to achieve an authentic feel in the work he creates.
Aaaaaand that's about it for today fam. Don't forget to Whatsapp "HI" to (+27) 600110444 in order to witness this magical production, and remember that it's actually free. It will be available on the 29th of January, so make sure to send that message ASAP. You can find out more about Sketch productions on Facebook and Instagram, so that you stay up to date with their future work and if you would like to see what else MBMS has in store, be sure to also like the Facebook page. Feel free to share this article with other friends and family who you know would be interested in attending, and don't forget to subscribe to the blog for more articles like this. Let's connect on Twitter @2tukani. Stay safe and blessed fam.
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