ABOUT
YAZUKE: The Forge
A Thousand Faces of Fear
A Single Song of Home
YAZUKE is a site-specific contemporary African dance production presented within the iconic forge of master blacksmith Conrad Hicks at the Bijou Building in Observatory, Cape Town.
Inspired by the legend of Africa's first Samurai, YAZUKE explores the profound dialogue between the self and the myriad faces of fear. Approached through BABA YAYA's distinctive lens, YAZUKE draws together African contemporary dance, martial movement, ritual performance, live music and the introspective qualities found within Japanese avant-garde theatre. Through movement, music and ritual, the body becomes both instrument and archive, carrying memory, demons and the search for belonging.
A celebration of hybridity, resilience and creative becoming, YAZUKE inhabits a space between worlds, where audiences are invited to confront fear, honour plurality, and find solace in the unknown forces that shape us, and the songs that call us home.
Created and Directed by:
Mandla Mbothwe and Benjamin Nivison
Choreographic Director:
Maxwell Xolani Rani
Dance Artists & Choreographers:
Lee van de Merwe
Mukovhe Monyai
Tanzley Jooste
Monique Dawson
Kabo Kola
Musicians and Sound Design:
Lukho Noyila
Babalwa Potelwa
Matlali Matabane
Ofentse Segale
Costume Design:
Nontsikulelo Salukazana
Lighting Design:
Bamanye Yeko
Stage Manager:
Yolanda Ntanyana