Rehearsal preview

"I'm sure if Lara wasn't working with Jazzart, she wouldn't be doing this right now." Alfred Hinkel addressing a preview audience in the company's rehearsal studios. "The production's at a very delicate point ... by no means finished ... We still have (a few days) in this space; and 1 week on stage." He introduces the main players:

Lara, director.
Neo, composer. "If you can sing, he will be your friend. If you can't, he won't be your friend," says Alfred.
Craig, set designer. A cathedral with a 2-metre ramp on one side. A platform to perch Neo and some band members. Another ramp that ends mid-air, incomplete. Gothic arches, some broken. Looks like it was bombed in WWII. In the background, a Coca-Cola billboard. "The Coca-Cola generation drives me mad ... American multicorporations watched Africans sell their souls," says Craig.
Asanda, Lara's assistant.
Prosper, from Zimbabwe, assistant stage manager. "If he smiles, you can see him," says Alfred.
Benny, lighting.
Tony, sound.
John, Sbo, Ina, Jackie, Ananda; the raft of choreographers.

We can feel the floorboards move underfoot as dancers thunder through some aggressive gangsta sequences. Bodies shrink backwards as this time it looks like they're sure to land on our laps. Dancers hurl themselves at a net strung from the ceiling. Fearless. Up and over; under. Crossing borders. We cringe as we wonder if, when Refiloe somersaults in that net being held taut by the entire company, she'll land safely. It's so intense we leave with headaches, feeling drained, emotional, speechless, awestruck.

"It's going to look stunning on stage ... one of the best of recent times." - Gregg
"It's nice to see so much masculine energy for a change." - Owen
"I didn't like the whities. What are they doing there?" - Glenda
"See you at the opening!" - Mandy