The 2017 Baxter Dance Festival will consist of the main programme, the off-main programme, and the fringe programme. The main programme will include invited and commissioned works, as well as the work of recognised professional choreographers and companies.
The off-main programme will showcase the work of up-and-coming choreographers (including student work), and the fringe programme includes work by youth groups, dance schools, school groups, traditional dance groups, and others.
Moving Into Dance Mophatong from Johannesburg will open the festival with two performances on Thursday, 5 October and Friday, 6 October 2017 at 8pm.
Other dance companies showcasing their work festival include the Cape Dance Company, Dance For All, Eoan Group School of Performing Arts, JazzArt Dance Theatre, the Kirvan Fortuin Company, La Rosa, New World Dance Theatre, and Taare.
Choreographer, dancer, and teacher Themba Mbuli’s will headline this year’s festival. Every year, the Baxter invites choreographers to apply for the commissioned work. This year, the Baxter invited individual dancers to audition to be part of the commissioned work with Mbuli.
Mbuli is the 2016 Standard Bank Young Award recipient and has been performing for 17 years; he graduated with a certificate in performing arts in 2017. Mbuli is an associate artistic manager and co-founder of the Broken Borders Arts Project. He is also a co-founder and the choreographer and artistic director of the Unmute Dance Company, which was formed in 2014 to help pioneer integrated dance in South Africa.
Since its inception in 2004, the Baxter Dance Festival has seen more than 500 local choreographers showcase their work. It has featured at least 4,000 dancers, presenting a range of dance styles and genres, from more than 400 studios, dance schools, projects, and professional companies from across the Western Cape.
“We continue to be blown away by the ongoing support and encouragement we received from local dance communities in the city, province, and beyond. This support shows particularly in the growing number of applications and participants we receive each year,” says Nicolette Moses, artistic director of the Baxter Dance Festival and associate producer and planning manager at the Baxter Theatre Centre.
Booking for the 2017 Baxter Dance Festival is through Computicket on 0861 915 8000, online at www.computicket.co.za, or at any Shoprite Checkers outlet.
