Review: THE ECSTATIC at Oz Arts Nashville
With perfectly-executed choreography, a range of emotions, and explosive charisma, THE ECSTATIC rightfully earns its name.
After being forced to miss Oz Arts’ last two entries in their “A Cultural Revelation” season, I was more than pleased to return. For this season, productions from around the world are presented in the Oz space, introducing audiences to art forms that they can’t find just anywhere. It was here that I got to enjoy The Ecstatic. On May 1 and 2, audiences got to witness a demonstration of Pantsula, a South African percussive street style dance. Impilo Mapantsula, a six-member group from Johannesburg, made their US debut in collaboration with Basel-based choreographer Jeremy Nedd. With perfectly-executed choreography, a range of emotions, and explosive charisma, The Ecstatic rightfully earns its name.
To explain in a brief history lesson, Pantsula originated in the 1950s and 60s in Alexandra and Sophiatown, which are two townships in Johannesburg. It was started by groups of older men as a form of protest against the forced removals carried out by the apartheid government. And for those who don’t know what “apartheid” means, it was a legalized system of strict racist segregation and discrimination in South Africa from 1948 to 1994. Pantsula has been used to spread awareness for many subjects over the years, including AIDS. As for the actual dance style itself, it’s fast-paced and syncopated, requiring several hours of rehearsals per week for Pantsula groups. The organization behind The Ecstatic, Impilo Mapantsula, is made up of six members: Sicelo Malume ka Xaba, Sello Zilo Midiga, Tommy Tee Motsapi, Bonakele Mambotjie Masethi, Lungile Ngwenya, and Vusi 2.2 Mdoyi Kgotsofalang Moshe Mavundla. As an organization, they aim to document and protect the living legacy of Pantsula and support dancers in professionalizing and further developing their art.
Right off the bat, Impilo Mapantsula lures in the audience by appearing onstage before the show even begins. They are walking around, stretching, and socializing. I felt less like I was watching a show and more like I was stepping into rehearsal. Instead of waiting for someone to come out and welcome the audience to the show and inform them on where the exits are, the show started immediately. I loved this choice because it pulls the audience straight into this unknown world and blurs the line between viewing live theatre and visiting a new world. In fact, here is a passage from a program that I found outside the theatre by the bar; “The praise break in Pentecostal services is a pause - a break in the church service, where the dancing body, voice, and music energetically coalesce and start to blur the difference between ecstatic and cathartic. As the artists ask themselves what happens when these two worlds converge - what happens in this transcendental moment of "break" - they discover and "break open" a new space all their own.” Once the dancers appear onstage and interact before the show begins, the audience is entering a new space.
How fast is Pantsula? Imagine that you are watching a video of someone dancing. Now imagine yourself hitting the fast-forward button. That’s how fast it can be, and that’s exactly what it looked like to me in person. Not only was I impressed by how fast the dancers could go without missing a beat, but I was equally impressed by how they maintained the energy to yell and whistle as they danced. I couldn’t understand their language, but I didn’t need to in order to understand the clear display of brotherhood onstage. The chemistry was apparent from the moment they appeared onstage, and the teamwork was incredible. Now, there was a point in the show where one of the dancers delivered a monologue in English about how he has all of these emotions, and we see more of those emotions as things literally slow down. Even as they moved in slow motion, they did so as a team. My favorite part was definitely the end where they all moved in slow motion with the music slowing down and becoming unsettling and the stage getting darker. The facial expressions sold just how unnerving the whole thing was, and I felt like I was watching a horror movie. I loved it. Bravo to the dancers and Jeremy Nedd for the impressive choreography.
There isn’t much to a set for The Ecstatic, but a talented crew is still needed to heighten the emotional aspects of the show. Laura Knüsel’s stage design uses the simple yet effective fabrics in the back of the stage that can either have lighting reflect off of them or be torn down. Speaking of lighting, Thomas Giger brilliantly uses lighting to heighten the emotional performances, especially at the end when the only light sources are the ones aimed at the dancers from ground level. While some of the dance scenes don’t require music, those that do are complimented by the music provided by Xzavier Stone and Modulaw. Throw in Fabrizio Di Salvo’s powerful sound design, and you’ve got a show that is as much as an audible delight as it is a visual delight.
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