Gregory Maqoma/Vuyani Dance Theatre

A SPECIAL FALL PRESENTATION
Co-sponsored by the Bates College Concert Committee 

Friday, October 16
Schaeffer Theatre, 8 p.m.
$20/$12 Reserved Seating (Students & Seniors)

Gregory Maqoma, one of South Africa's leading choreographers, brings his acclaimed work, Beautiful Me to Maine as part of his debut North American tour. Beautiful Me is Maqoma's investigation of identity in relationship to history, humanity and nature. He began with movement, text and music contributed by three master choreographers who have had great influence on him - Akram Khan's Contemporary Kathak; Faustin Linyekula's visual dance-theater; and Vincent Mantsoe's Afro-fusion. By layering these distinct and diverse styles with his own unique lightness and humor, Maqoma rewrites the definition of a post-modern African choreographer. Accompanied on stage by four exceptional South African musicians (violin, cello, sitar and percussion), plus simple lighting and set design, Beautiful Me becomes a living self-portrait and provocative exploration of kinetic African identity.

Gregory Maqoma/Vuyani Dance Theatre- photo by John Hogg

Maqoma is “…one of the most talented artists that has emerged from the new generation of South African artists… He challenges his audiences to discuss identity, sexuality and the beauty of contemporary South Africa.”

Beautiful Me offered …"Contemporary dance expression laced with an African resonance that gave the work an engaging edge."

Click to read essay by Gregory Maqoma on Identity, Diversity and Modernity