GRANT AND SHAUN: A DOUBLE BILL OF DANCE at Baxter Flipside for Short Season from 9 April

In GRANT AND SHAUN: A DOUBLE BILL OF DANCE, Cape Town artists Grant van Ster and Shaun Oelf, two of the hottest young talents on the local dance and theatre scenes, take to the Baxter's Flipside stage for a short season, from 9 to 18 April, to perform a brand new work MOST HONEST MAN and their critically acclaimed THE ARCHITECTURE OF TEARS.

With the premier of MOST HONEST MAN, UCT graduates Mdu Kweyama and Alex McCarthy make their debut as artists-in-residence at the Baxter Theatre Centre for 2015, made possible by the Rolf-Stephan Nussbaum Foundation. For the production, the two theatre-makers are supervised by the Baxter's CEO and artistic director Lara Foot. Resident director Kweyama heads the production as director and choreographer, with dramaturgy and assistant direction by resident playwright McCarthy.

Based on William Shakespeare's OTHELLO, MOST HONEST MAN looks at the relationship between Othello (performed by Van Ster) and Iago (performed by Oelf), exploring the notions of sexual jealousy and its power to destroy. Through movement the relationship between the two characters is interrogation as they delve into issues such as trust, virtue, amorality, projection and isolation.

Van Ster and Oelf have fast become two of South Africa's rising young dance talents, making a name for themselves and their company, Figure of Eight Dance Collective (FO8), which they established in 2014. The company recently performed at the Fleur du Cap awards, in pieces choreographed by Van Ster.

Last year they teamed up with dancer-musician Thabisa Dinga and choreographer-director Ananda Fuchs to create THE ARCHITECTURE OF TEARS, an exploration into the human responses to attraction beyond gender and social correctness. It has been performed to great acclaim at the 2014 Cape Town Fringe and Baxter Dance Festival and most recently at the 2015 Dance Umbrella in Johannesburg. For this season at the Baxter, Ciara Barron will perform the female role from 9 to 14 April, followed by Thabisa Dinga from 15 to 18 April.

THE ARCHITECTURE OF TEARS was visually inspired by a study of 100 TEARS PHOTOGRAPHED THROUGH A STANDARD LIGHT MICROSCOPE conducted by Rose-Lynn Fisher in 2013 which comments on falling lustfully, landing painfully, dusting off vigorously and confronting our complex and simple truths.

Other highlights for the pair in 2014 included Lara Foot's multiple Fleur du Cap award-winner, FISHERS OF HOPE, with Oelf as a cast member and Van Ster as choreographer. They have also been part of the Baxter Theatre Centre and Sweden's Scenkonst Sörmland's hugely successful collaborations of I HIT THE GROUND RUNNING in 2013 and STRUCK SILENT in 2014. This exciting double bill of MOST HONEST MAN and THE ARCHITECTURE OF TEARS will showcase their talents and further expand their repertoire which they have managed to build up in a short of time.

GRANT AND SHAUN: A DOUBLE BILL OF DANCE previews on 9 April, opens on 10 April and runs until 18 April, at 7pm nightly, with a matinee on Saturday, 18 April at 3pm. Ticket prices are R60 for the preview, matinee and for the school performance on 16 April at 11am, and R100 for all other performances. Booking is through Computicket on 0861 915 8000, online at www.computicket.com or at any Shoprite Checkers outlet. For discounted corporate, schools or block-bookings, charities or fundraisers, contact Sharon Ward on 021 680 3962 or Carmen Kearns on 021 680 3993.

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