Western films serve Jeremy Nedd and the Pantsula artists of Impilo Mapantsula as a speculative starting point for new stories and myths.
After their successful production “The Ecstatic”, the nine Pantsula artists of Impilo Mapantsula and Jeremy Nedd are now working together again to explore the «western». The western could be considered a film genre that utilizes some of the most explicit tropes around the hero, the «other» and the vast, empty landscape which they both contentiously inhabit. There is a set of characters and images that have become so deeply engrained in the collective imagination which portray those clichés, but those are certainly not images of pantsulas… How a Falling Star Lit up the Purple Sky is a dynamic visual poem that proposes a paradigm shift, re-thinks the idea of the archetype and hopefully invites a re-assessment of the psychic and geographical spaces occupied by the western, the (Wild) West, and the South.
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Concept / Choreography: Jeremy Nedd
Performance / Choreography: Sicelo Xaba, Vusi Mdoyi, Sello Modiga, Thomas Motsapi, Sonakele Masethi, Kgotsofalang Moshe, Vuyani Feni, Sibongile Mathebula, Elma Motloenya
Lighting Design / Technical Management: Thomas Giger
Stage Design / Technical Management: Laura Knüsel
Audio Design: Fabrizio Di Salvo & Rej Deproc
Musical Consultation: Brandy Butler
Costume: Rosa Birkedal
Dramaturgy: Anta Helena Recke
Production Management: Regula Schelling / produktionsDOCK
In co-production with
Kaserne Basel; Arsenic – Contemporary Performing Arts Center, Lausanne; International Summer Festival Kampnagel; Wiesbaden Biennale; The Centre for the Less Good Idea, Johannesburg
With the kind support of
Fachausschuss Tanz & Theater BS/BL, Pro Helvetia, Swiss Arts Council, SüdKulturFonds, Stanley Thomas Johnson Stiftung, Kulturfonds of the Société Suisse des Auteurs (SSA), GGG Basel, Jacqueline Spengler Stiftung, Scheidegger-Thommen-Stiftung, Schweizerische Interpretenstiftung
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Jeremy Nedd is a Brooklyn (New York) born choreographer and performer who has been living in Basel for some time. Nedd has had engagements at the Semperoper in Dresden (2010-2012) and Ballett Basel (2012-2016). As a guest performer he is associated with Schauspielhaus Zürich, where he has worked with Trajal Harrell, amongst others. Nedd has realised and presented his previous productions at Kaserne Basel, ROXY Birsfelden, Tanzhaus Zürich, Arsenic (Lausanne), Palais de Tokyo (Paris) and Münchner Kammerspiele. In 2017, Nedd was a Premio finalist (Newcomer Award for Theatre and Dance Switzerland) and a recipient of the Atelier Mondial scholarship in South Africa. Most recently, he completed a Master’s degree in Expanded Theatre at the Bern University of the Arts (HKB).
Impilo Mapantsula is a global network of high-level professional dance artists who specialize in pantsula, a South African urban dance form. They are a professional organization that promotes the development of pantsula dance and culture, creates formal standards, and acts as an industry representative. The organization aims to document and protect the living legacy of pantsula and support dancers in professionalizing and further developing their art. Impilo Mapantsula creates learning opportunities and supports artistic creation and self- expression through educational, artistic and professional programs, with an emphasis on job creation, international collaborations and exchange programs.