Mlu Zondi takes audience by storm

The 2010 Standard Bank Young Artist award winner for Dance, Mlu Zondi gave an interesting slant to contemporary dance in Cinema during the National Arts Festival which took place last year. Showing at the Great Hall, the audience walked into an odd landscape where a journey into the subconscious mind is made.

The audience could situate themselves anywhere on the bubble plastic that had been laid out on the ground, which created a popping sound with each movement. "I want to invite my audience to participate with the characters," says Zondi. The setting is unusual with images reflected on big screens behind the dancers, each one representing the main character's life and thoughts repeatedly. "I love working with film and video, therefore this is a way to interact with audience using this medium," Zondi said.

A colourful theme of blue, yellow and orange was used, with each colour representing the main characters' thoughts. As the audience walk in, the characters stand in a square wooden panel while a long path separates them. Blue, which is played by Dumisile Mqadi represents the wife, who sings songs of sorrow throughout the performance. Yellow, played by Sanele Mzinyane represents the main character's past. Orange, played by Thulisile Khumalo represents the girlfriend who had a bright future but something went wrong somewhere, resulting in all her dreams being shattered. All of this is interpreted and made immediately accessible through the innovative dance and music.

In the middle of the hall lies a long passage where the main character, played by Mlu Zondi walks on passing these characters that represent his subconscious. He does not dance at all, instead he is tied up in green plastic cable lighting, symbolising the entrapment of the mind as he walks along his path. "Before you die your life shows in front of you and these characters represent the past," Zondi explains. "I am crazy! When I create I get into a zone and when I'm done I ask myself how did I get there?" Zondi's main concern is the audience. "I want them to sit anywhere, and what I like about this is that they can see the characters closer and even see the details of my feet, whether they are smelly or not," he said with a laugh. He says the message of his performance is that everything one does has consequences. "What you do to another person now could have an effect on them later and you will succumb to the fact that you were the cause," he said.

Winning the Young Artist award has boosted Zondi's confidence as he would have not otherwise have been able to afford funding the show. "If it was in the Fringe programme then maybe I wouldn't have received so much attention from the public," he said with a smile. This is someone to watch out for so make sure you watch more of Mlu Zondi's work in this year's National Arts Festival.