MUSICDANCE CAPE TOWN 2025

The project will take place at Theatre Arts, Observatory, Cape Town,

29th November – 13th December 2024

Call to participate in MusicDance 2025 opens 26th August / Deadline: 20th September 2025

link to application form

MusicDance Cape Town is a performance project for dancers and musicians, supported by Theatre Arts since 2018. Now in its eighth year, the project draws together artists from diverse genres and backgrounds. The emphasis of the work is interdisciplinary and real-time composition. Audiences are invited to witness the forging of exciting new collaborations and unique expressions in music and dance performance.

MusicDance was spearheaded by dancers Manuela Lucia Tessi and Thalia Laric in 2018, and the project was co-directed with dancer Leilah Kirsten in 2024. In 2025 the project will be directed by Manuela Lucia Tessi, in collaboration with the core team of musicians and dancers: Nicolle Vieira, Vintani Nafassi, Coila-Leah Enderstein , Garth Erasmus , Sumalgy Nuro, Matteo Ringas, Lucy Strauss, and guest musician Friederike Wendorf.

The project has been joined since the beginning by photographer Lindsey Appolis, Tania Lea Vossgätter, and lighting designer Frans Mandilakhe Zunguze.

The team of facilitating artists is a group of experienced South African and international music and dance artists that have had long-lasting collaborations in similar projects.

The performance consists of an intensive period of workshops in which the participants are guided by the facilitating artists to practise the tools of interdisciplinary and real-time composition. The workshops lead towards the creation of performances.

Each performance consists of a programme of different short compositions of sound and movement, with a different constellation (grouping) of musicians and dancers. All the compositions are created in the moment, based on real-time artistic choices in movement, sound, light and presence.

MusicDance provides a transformative experience for artists to extend their skills and agency while forging new collaborations and lasting artistic connections. The performance platform provides the chance to present new work to the public and offers insight into the immediacy and risk of real-time performance making.

The goal of this project is to develop and sustain the training, practice and research of music and dance in performance by creating work that is immediate, risk taking and challenging the boundaries between disciplines and genres.

LINE-UP 2025

Artistic Direction:

Manuela Lucia Tessi (dance)

Team of Collaborating and Facilitating artists:

Coila-Leah Enderstein (piano), Vintani Nafassi (percussion, seperewa, umtshingo, mbira, voice, dance), Nicolle Vieira (dance and text), Lucy Strauss ( viola, electronics), Garth Erasmus (self-made, indigenous instruments, electronics and reeds), Friederike Wendorf (flutes)

Participating Artists 2025:

Ashraf Wahed, Kayla van der Merwe, Laëtitia Galvaire, Thimna Ndwe, Zia Francis, Zaria Moal, Billy Wong, Quanita Allie, Marie Hahne, Vincent Rae, Tsholofelo Ndaba, Roxanne De Freitas, Xavier Parks, Mihlali Mayeza, Joy (dance) Gemma Paton (dance and vocals) , Feven Kidane (trumpet, bass) Josie McClure (saxophone) , Isabella Hulme (saxophone), Yanna Romano (dance and piano), Jonathan Cumming (bass guitar, electronics, dance)

Lighting Design: Frans Mandilakhe Zunguze

Photography: Tania Lea Vossgatter (shiftingpoint_studio)

Financial:

Participation fee of R2500

Artists can recoup the fee by selling 20 tickets to the shows. Each ticket is R125

We have chosen this financial model to make participation possible for everyone, make the project sustainable, and encourage artists to proudly share their performance work.

Schedule:

Saturday 29th November 9am-1pm/ 2pm-5pm workshops

Sunday 30th November : 9am-1pm/ 2pm-5pm workshops

*the artists will be divided into two groups, one group for the Saturday , one for the Sunday workshop

Monday 1 st December 5pm- 9pm rehearsals and tech

Tuesday 2nd December 5pm- 9pm rehearsals and tech

Wednesday 3rd December : 8pm performance (call at 5pm)

Thursday 4th December: 8pm performance (call at 5pm)

Friday 5th December: 8pm performance (call at 5pm)

Saturday 6th December: 9am-1pm/ 2pm-5pm workshops

Sunday 7th December: 9am-1pm/ 2pm-5pm workshops

*all artists together both days