DFL 2011 launched with song, word and dance
April 4, 2011 DFL 2011 launched with song, word and dance
By Vivienne Rowland
30 March 2011
Vivienne Rowland
Drama for LifeIt was a case of song, word and dance when one of Wits’ flagship awareness-creating art initiatives, Drama for Life, launched its 2011 programme last week.
The launch, held at the Wits Theatre and attended by Dr Sibongile Khumalo, South Africa’s ‘first lady of song’, actor par excellence Dr John Kani and Justice Edwin Cameron, Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, was a celebration to welcome the 17 new scholars who join the 48 alumni already representing DFL in 15 African countries.
The Drama for Life’s (DFL) scholarship programme, currently in its fourth year running, aims to step outside of the statistics around HIV and AIDS and address the lived reality of individuals and communities dealing with complex issues related to this pandemic.
Working within the African context, DFL advocates an applied arts approach that incorporates the dramatic, visual and musical arts amongst many other hybrid performance forms that speak to the cultures of people dealing with these issues.
“The arts are important for human exploration, stimulation and cultivation. It should never be used to serve a political agenda and within the arts we should move from a place of love and with knowledge that gives us insights into humanity,” said Khumalo.
Short performances formed part of the evening’s entertainment: Woza Zimbo!, directed by Bhekiliziwe Ndlovu and Warren Nebe, Director of Drama for Life, is a lively performance about Zimbo, a man who comes face-to-face with Zimbabwe’s ‘saviour’, uMsindidi. I think it’s Hamlet, a gripping dance set directed by PJ Sabbagha, is a bit of “madness” inspired by Shakespeare’s tragic tale set in the 1600’s, and a philosophically physical tangle on the mystery of our human experience. Poetry performances by 2010 A Lover Another poets Simo Majola, Sne Zungi and Taxan Tshabalala added some more artistic flavour to the line-up.
The aim of DFL is to develop and integrate applied arts techniques that can engage with the human condition on an ongoing basis around experiences of capacity development in HIV and AIDS education, activism and therapy; human rights and social justice; peace building, transformation and diversity management; and environmental sustainability.
The projects, interventions and postgraduate programme have all grown directly out of the need for this form of intervention on the continent.
DFL is supported by patrons such as Judge Cameron, Kani, Khumalo and comedian Pieter-Dirk Uys. These renowned figures in the arts and human rights arenas all share a belief in the relevance of the DFL programme, as well as the positive social impact that its projects can have on individuals and communities.
“Drama for Life defines our abstract knowledge of art and is a creative and innovative intervention of a life-threatening condition and making it real for us. I am proud to be part of Drama for Life,” said Prof. Tawana Kupe, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities.
Over the course of 2011, DFL is set to roll out an extensive and exciting range of new and established projects, all dealing with issues of HIV and AIDS, race, culture, gender and identity, human rights and social justice.