<BR> <BR><small>'MOTSWA HOLE'; photos - Suzy Bernstein</small><P>Vincent Sekwati Mantsoe is a prize-winning dancer/choreogrpaher, who is making a return visit to Dance Umbrella.<P>Here are the calendar details from the <A HREF="http://www.danceumbrella.co.uk/menu.htm" TARGET=_blank><B>Dance Umbrella website</B></A>. Click on the coloured dates for programme information and on the venue name for theatre details. <P>Here is his <A HREF="http://www.sekwaman.co.za/" TARGET=_blank><B>website</B></A><P>Here is an existing thread about <A HREF="http://www.criticaldance.com/ubb/Forum5/HTML/000488.html" TARGET=_blank><B>Mantsoe</B></A><P><p>[This message has been edited by Stuart Sweeney (edited September 23, 2001).]

<B>VINCENT SEKWATI MANTSOE: DANCING TO BE FREE</B><P>WHO: VINCENT SEKWATI MANTSOE<BR>WHEN: MON 22 - TUE 23 OCTOBER <BR>WHERE: THE ROBIN HOWARD THEATRE AT THE PLACE<BR>TICKETS: 020 7387 0031<P><BR>Born in Soweto, dancer-choreographer Vincent Mantsoe first appeared in Umbrella 1999 with a trio of solos that demonstrated his exceptional expressiveness. In the spring he was teaching, lecturing and performing in Japan, but still found time for a brief interview.<P>Donald Hutera: In the UK we know of you as a soloist. What have you been working on lately in terms of group pieces?<BR>Vincent Mantsoe: This year I had no time to write a new work for any company. Also because there was not enough money to do so. In London I will be presenting three solo works: Phokwane [a title derived from a combination of his parents' traditional names], Barena [King] and Motswa Hole [Person From Far].<P>DH: What must anyone who wants to be a professional dancer keep in mind?<BR>VM: There are many things a dancer must have in order for him or her to give the audience something they will never have seen. Joy. Passion. Spirit. Commitment. Respect. They are what I believe in. All different cultures have these things in common. They bring us close. I travel a lot, and what I learn is that one must not 'jump the gun.' Instead you must try slowly to learn about the place you are at. And, beyond that, to be strong you have to learn about who you are.<P>DH: Do you think that dance must have a purpose beyond the actual movements performed onstage?<BR>VM: To me it is a medicine for self-healing and for the audience, too. I try to give them a transformation by letting them see how important it is to preserve culture, even if we have to adapt to modern society, and to celebrate our ancestors. The message of the ancestors is to see to it that the next generation knows this.<P>DH: What does it feel like when you are dancing?<BR>VM: I feel that I always have people onstage with me - spirits - and they enable me to take the audience with me on the journey I am travelling. I sometimes go towards a trance. That is the power of the spirits. I feel no pain, no getting tired. I feel joy. I want to fly. Everything becomes clear and goes on and on.<P>DH: Who inspires you as an artist and human being?<BR>VM: My parents, my mentor Sylvia Glasser and, most of all, my ancestors. These people provide me with information, some of it secret, to use in my work with extra care. They give me guidance and a clear direction to be free.<P>DH: What are you current goals?<BR>VM: I hope by the end of the year that I have a manager.<P><P>------------------<BR>This interview was posted by Stuart Sweeney on behalf of Donald Hutera.<P>Donald Hutera writes regularly on dance and arts for The Times, Evening Standard, Time Out, Dance Europe, Dance Magazine (US) and Dance Now. He is co-author, with Allen Robertson, of The Dance Handbook.<P>This interview first appeared in either the Spring or Autumn 2001 editions of Dance Umbrella News. <BR> <BR>Join Dance Umbrella's mailing list to receive future editions of Dance Umbrella News. <BR>Call: 020 8741 5881 <BR>Email: mail@danceumbrella.co.uk <BR>Web: <A HREF="http://www.danceumbrella.co.uk" TARGET=_blank>www.danceumbrella.co.uk</A>

<B>Drop everything</B><P>In haste - Vincent Sekwati Mantsoe is at The Robin Howard Theatre at The Place on Tuesday night. If you live near London and have a free night then ring and book a seat (links for details are at the top of the thread). Mantsoe is a superlative dancer and his solos are as emotionally charged as anything you are likely to see this year. If an entire evening of solos by one performer seems daunting, don't worry - the three dances are varied and the audience's attention didn't waver for an instant.<P>It's so good, even if you've got an important dinner with your Boss and your annual review is imminent, tell him something has come up and go see Mantsoe.

Please consider my Dance Umbrella reviews for the New Reviewers' Competition. I am eligable for the Competition and agree to be bound by the rules. The e-mail address given with my registration is still operative. <P><BR>Vincent Sekwati Mantsoe, The Place - Robin Howard Dance Theatre, 22nd Oct<P>Vincent Sekwati Mantsoe is a genuine performer. Not a genuine ‘performer’ - all self-assurance and dazzling grins - but a ‘genuine’ peformer. There’s no artifice, no showing off, no abstract intellectual agenda. Instead just an unbridled artist who wants to communicate; across cultures and times, with the audience and with the spirits of his ancestors.<P>There are few people who could command a whole stage for a whole evening by themselves. As an audience, we are used to the dynamics of changing partnerships, interactions, the physical padding of more bodies filling the space. But Mantsoe rarely seems alone. Accompanied by singing voices, they dance with him. The expressions on his face tell of family, friends and followers. We are not watching a dance, we are witnessing a ritual.<P>His first piece, ‘Phokwane’, does literally tell of his family, and is a tribute to his parents. Shifting through characters with sudden snaps, Mantsoe travels through his memories. Held in his fist is both power and pain; a visible breath makes vulnerable his solid sweat-slicked torso; while unfolding and unfurling limbs reach out to people and places of his past.<P>Mantsoe’s muscles isolate with flick-book precision and small movements beat a rhythm, building into trance. ‘Possessed’ is a word often used to describe Manstoe’s performance, but there is no more fitting way to express his haunted figure, siezed by frantic energy. The accompaning music is mostly traditional African and African influenced sounds, but to the surprise of the audience, halfway through ‘Barena’, the story of a king and the trappings of his kingship, we fly miles west to an orchestral version of Satie’s Gymnopedie no. 1. The schmaltz struggles to contain Mantsoe’s violent fervour, his instinctive choreography, but he also sheds new light on a well-worn piece. <P>For this English audience member, a piece of Satie carries immediate associations and assumptions while for Mantsoe it is simply a beautiful piece of music. I am reminded how little I really know of the traditional African dance and ritual that forms the basis of Mantsoe’s dance. It is easy to be sceptical about the Western culture that surrounds the consumption of world musics/dance - all Buena Vista dinner parties, drumming workshops for gap year students and a touch of the cultural voyeur. But tonight I am unaware of that. Mantsoe is an honest performer, he really dances for joy, which can’t fail to touch anyone.<P>Rooted to the earth yet leaping with abandon, contractions shudder through his whole physique in vigourous celebration. Mantsoe fixes us with a stare, plays wth us, invites us onstage. The most touching moment is the applause, as the audience gratefully stand in appreciation, they are tangibly moved, blessed by a burst of communication. That is an inspiring thing.<P><BR>

Many thanks for your thoughts Lyndsey. I agree entirely that this was an exceptional evening of dance and focussed emotional intensity. After the first piece I wondered - How can he follow that? - but he did with two further solos of great contrast. <P>I will certainly be looking out for his further visits and for other African performers. Given that Mantsoe and <A HREF="http://www.criticaldance.com/ubb/Forum16/HTML/000047.html" TARGET=_blank><B>Compagnie Salia nï Seydou </B></A> have made such an impression on London critics and fans, perhaps we shall be seeing much more African contemporary dance in the years to come - I can't wait. <p>[This message has been edited by Stuart Sweeney (edited October 25, 2001).]

<B>Vincent Sekwati Mantsoe <P>Place, London<BR>Rating: **** <P>Judith Mackrell<BR>Guardian<P>Friday October 26, 2001</B><P><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>South African dancer Vincent Sekwati Mantsoe performs solo for over an hour. It isn't just this stamina that makes him remarkable, but the physical and imaginative distance he goes. Mantsoe dances as though he is in a state of possession, during which he opens himself up to huge, turbulent visions. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4285475,00.html" TARGET=_blank><B>read on...</B></A><P>

<B>Masterclass from the Schubert of modern dance</B><BR>Ismene Brown in The Daily Telegraph reviews Russell Maliphant & Vincent Sekwati Mantsoe at The Place, WC1<P><BR>WITH a cornucopia of venues at its service, the Dance Umbrella festival can at last feature a full range of the art - from the blockbusters such as Mark Morris and William Forsythe at the large Sadler's Wells Theatre to the choice chamber performers at the smaller Place. And you may find just as good a time in the little theatre as in the large one, as two events have proved.<P>Of that rarely talented band of British choreographers born around 1960, Russell Maliphant has an extraordinary gift for making dances for private, intimate places. Whereas with Jonathan Burrows I feel as if I am a rating on an explorer's ship, and with Michael Clark I tremble while awaiting his next piece of theatrical lateral thinking, Maliphant is, perhaps, the Schubert of modern dance, a supreme melodist of the body.<P><A HREF="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/et?ac=005760794236107&rtmo=V14GkPPx&atmo=rrrrrrrq&pg=/et/01/10/30/btrus30.html" TARGET=_blank><B>click for more</B></A><P>Stuart adds: I'm pleased that Ms Brown enjoyed the Mantsoe programme, but I think that she is in a minority when she feels that he could not sustain a whole evening.