Itumeleng Mokgope: Artist-in-Residence At German Art Foundation Sylt Quelle
By Own Correspondent – South African contemporary dancer Itumeleng Mokgope is currently completing a residency at the esteemed German foundation kunst: raum sylt quelle. The renown dancer has recently been working on the dance theatre piece Tempered Souls, which was performed as part of the Goethe-Institut’s Football meets Culture program during the 2010 World Cup. His residency is supported by the Aktion Afrika initiative of the German Foreign Office.
Itumeleng Mokgope uses dance, voice and the tyre itself to explore varied themes and impressions in the piece Tempered Souls. The unique multi-media production features Mokgope, a choir of six voices, experimental video and 20 tyres on stage, and explores the many social dynamics this object symbolizes.
Mokgope premiered Tempered Souls in March, 2010 in Kliptown, Soweto, after which it was performed at the Klein Karoo National Arts Festival, Oudshoorn (April). Tempered Souls also featured during the Goethe Institut Johannesburg’s Football Meets Culture series, held during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. It was performed in May 15 at Arts on Main and then was back again in Kliptown in July.
Tempered Souls is a production of the Sylt Foundation (jozi art:lab and kunst:raum sylt quelle) in cooperation with Klein Karoo National Arts Festival. An earlier piece with the tyre as its theme, commissioned for the FNB Dance Umbrella, was created by Mogkope and performed with the South African Ballet Theatre in 2009. It proved to be the foundation for Tempered Souls.
