Journeys of the Soul is the name of the production that we’re playing this week. It is a collaboration between Jazzart Dance Theatre & Phoenix Dance Theatre (Great Britain), Cape Town Opera & Opera North (Great Britain) and the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra and is a “thought-provoking and poignant expression of remembrance and rebirth in a post-pandemic society.” The pieces that are played are Mozart’s Requiem and Neo Muyanga’s new work After Tears.
Neo’s new work was specially commissioned to be performed as a companion piece to Mozart’s iconic masterpiece. “The piece is a rallying call for individual citizens to work collectively, with empathy, to rebuild after a period of distress and loss. It envisages this collective work as a vibrant ‘After Tears party’ where the blues of mourning are submerged and constrained by the reverie of a cleansing ceremony.” 🥺 sho …
It has been quite a week in the world and the madness that is happening is quite depressing to say the least 😢 ( suddenly load shedding doesn’t seem so bad… ). I am also still dealing with the loss of my wonderful student Kyle Smith which is hitting me hard at the moment so playing a program like this is intense, but also healing.
The ‘journey of the soul’ we all go through when we experience loss, loss of your home, loss of a person, loss of a pet, is an individual one yet we need the support of those around us. I myself feel the need to turn inside, seek solitude and deal with all the emotions like anger and sadness somewhere alone and in nature (the back line in Muizenberg is a favourite 🏄🏼), but in the meantime strangely enough I also need to be surrounded by my trusted friends and (chosen) family to keep me grounded.
I am very grateful to have build up a support system here in Cape Town in the 20 years that I’ve been here and in the last months I have experienced again what a loving and kind bunch these South Africans are! 🫶🏻
To be continued … 🙂
Roxane Steffen 