UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance, now under the artistic direction of former REDCAT Deputy Director Edgar Miramontes, is bringing a full-bodied, full-throated South African masterwork to the Royce Hall stage for only one performance, this Saturday, Sept. 21, at 8 p.m.
Gregory Maqoma’s Vuyani Dance Theatre’s “Cion: Requiem of Ravel’s Boléro” includes award-winning choreography accompanied by an African Gospel quartet that follows the percussive journey of what promotional materials describe as “a designated mourner navigating the tensions of post-Apartheid South Africa.”
Jumping off from the words of South African novelist Zakes Mda and Maurice Ravel’s climactic composition named in the title, greed, power and communal mourning rise to the surface. With harmonies rooted in Zulu a cappella traditions, the creator sees his theatrical invention as “a ritual to free the souls of those taken from the continent through slavery so they may find peace.”
Following the performance, there will be an interactive dialogue with the artists and a party on the terrace.
—Benn Widdey, Culture Spot LA
LOCATION:
Royce Hall, on the UCLA campus, 10745 Dickson Ct., LA 90095
TICKETS:
$42-$63
INFO:
Photo courtesy of the artist and CAP@UCLA