Cape Town – Jazzart Dance Theatre\u2019s Meraki Festival 2026 is not asking you to understand contemporary dance. It is asking you to feel it.<\/p>\n
And feeling, as it turns out, is something we in Africa do instinctively.<\/p>\n
When I sat down with London-based choreographic duo Ciara Baldwin and Nathan Bartman of Manacan – fresh from touring Italy and Tanzania and now back in Cape Town to restage Survive – what unfolded was less an interview and more a reminder of what dance really is.<\/p>\n
It is not about perfect lines or technical jargon.
\nIt is not about knowing the difference between release technique and neoclassical phrasing.<\/p>\n
It is about stories. And this year\u2019s Meraki theme – \u201cOur Stories\u201d – could not be more apt.<\/p>\n
The African X-Factor<\/strong><\/p>\n Ciara speaks about South African dancers having something \u201cintangible\u201d – that elusive X-factor that makes international companies take notice. \u201cIt\u2019s not necessarily always the leg behind the head,\u201d she laughs. Nathan added, \u201cIt\u2019s the energy. When we celebrate, we dance. When we mourn, we dance. When we protest, we dance. It\u2019s in the body.\u201d<\/p>\n In Tanzania, audiences respond vocally, instinctively – energy feeding energy. In London, the same piece may be met with polite stillness. Not because it isn\u2019t loved – but because cultures engage differently.<\/p>\n Here in South Africa, the exchange is electric. And that electricity is what the Meraki Festival captures so well.<\/p>\n Survive: From Grief to Hope<\/strong><\/p>\n At the heart of this year\u2019s festival dance programme is Survive, a work originally commissioned by Jazzart and now returning home after international tours.<\/p>\n The piece was born during the COVID years – and from the devastating loss of a friend and fellow community activist, Kirvan Fortuin. His final words to Nathan during lockdown were simple: \u201cWe\u2019ll do what we need to do to survive.\u201d<\/p>\n He tragically died only weeks later.<\/p>\n That loss became the seed of a work that asks a brutal question: Why do communities sometimes destroy the very people trying to lift them?<\/p>\n The choreography moves from relentless labour – bodies driving themselves to exhaustion – into a metaphoric crossroads between life and death. And then, something shifts.<\/p>\n The final act does not dwell in despair. It rises. From survival to thriving. From isolation to Ubuntu.<\/p>\n Audiences leave feeling something – and that is the point. As one woman said after an earlier performance: \u201cI feel closer to my culture now than I did before I walked in.\u201d<\/p>\n You Don\u2019t Need to \u201cGet It\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n One of the most honest admissions in our conversation was this:<\/p>\n \u201cContemporary dance can make you feel stupid,\u201d Ciara says. \u201cLike you didn\u2019t get it.\u201d<\/p>\n But here\u2019s the truth: There is no wrong way to watch contemporary dance.<\/p>\n You don\u2019t need a manual. You don\u2019t need prior knowledge, and you don\u2019t need to decode symbolism. You simply need to be present.<\/p>\n In fact, Meraki is actively exploring post-show discussions – the kind common in Europe – where audiences can stay, ask questions, unpack what they\u2019ve just experienced. Not to intellectualise it, but to deepen the connection.<\/p>\n Because dance is not steps. It is stories. And every story holds power.<\/p>\n From Steps to Stories<\/strong><\/p>\n When I asked how contemporary dance bridges cultures, Ciara said something that stayed with me: \u201cYou can speak Swahili, Italian, Zulu, Xhosa – but when you move together, I feel your language.\u201d Movement collapses difference. Sweat builds connection. Shared rhythm dissolves ego.<\/p>\n Manacan\u2019s work is created using nothing more glamorous than GarageBand, iPhones, percussion, voices and field recordings – guinea fowl in Botswana, breath, bodies, instinct for example. It is raw, honest and deeply human.<\/p>\n And that humanity is precisely why the Meraki Festival matters now.<\/p>\n Why You Should Be There<\/strong><\/p>\n Across Africa, Italy and the UK, contemporary companies face the same challenge: how to fill theatres, how to build audiences, how to make people understand that art is not a luxury – it is oxygen.<\/p>\n Attendance is a form of currency, where presence is participation. When you sit in that theatre, you are not just watching. You are completing the exchange.<\/p>\n Even in a half-empty theatre, dancers perform as if for one – because changing one life is enough. But imagine the power of a full house\u2026<\/p>\n Meraki is not exclusive. It is not elitist. It is not \u201cfor dancers only.\u201d<\/p>\n It is for anyone who has ever felt joy. Or grief, frustration, or hope.<\/p>\n It is for anyone who understands that our world feels fractured – and that perhaps the body knows how to repair what language cannot.<\/p>\n A Glimpse of the Future<\/strong><\/p>\n There is a bigger dream quietly forming: An interconnected contemporary dance exchange across Africa and beyond – Tanzania, Italy, South Africa – rubbing shoulders, sharing stages, telling shared stories. No gatekeeping. No ego. Just an abundance mindset.<\/p>\n As Ciara put it: \u201cIf we run out of ideas, we retire.\u201d<\/p>\n That spirit – generous, collaborative, curious – is what Meraki celebrates.<\/p>\n Come As You Are – You do not need to know anything about dance. You need only curiosity. From steps to stories to something shared.<\/p>\n And perhaps, in the dark of the theatre, you will find a piece of your own story reflected back at you.<\/p>\n Festival Dates: <\/strong>26 February – 7 March 2026<\/p>\n Venue: <\/strong>Artscape<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Cape Town – Jazzart Dance Theatre\u2019s Meraki Festival 2026 is not asking you to understand contemporary dance. It is asking you to feel it. And feeling, as it turns out, is something we in Africa do instinctively. 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\nAnd perhaps the willingness to feel. Meraki 2026 invites you not to understand contemporary dance – but to experience it.<\/p>\n