Founded in 2018, and the first of its kind in Pietermaritzburg, the Bonwa Dance Company (BDC) is a collaborative non-profit organization (NPO 211- 052) that seeks to spread dance through educational, commercial and recreational platforms, nationally and internationally. BDC is all about promoting a healthy public and global life through the arts, especially through dance. We believe that dancing can bring us closer to realizing our Ubuntu and eventually Eudaemonia (human flourishing).

Bonwa Dance Company believes that dance is the key to a sustainable and healthier future for our nation as well as our global community. We have personally witnessed the power of dance to heal, mend and bridge gaps between people, individually and collectively. The BDC has dedicated our efforts to the advancement dance/dance education for all peoples regardless of race, gender, ability, age, and background. We stand on the shoulders of giants like Athol Furgard who urged us to “dance life like champions” and avoid societal collisions; Friedrich Nietzsche who appealed to us to “put ourselves on our proper legs” and learn to dance also with our “ideas, words and even the pen”; Isadora Duncan who inspired us to pursue freedom unapologetically and to embody beauty and truth; Martin Luther King Junior who reminded us to live a committed life where one bears witness to the eternal principles of love, justice, truth, and leading a three dimensional life.

The Super Troupers is an outreach programme facilitated by the BDC that prides itself on its integrative approach to dance education, performance opportunities and youth empowerment in disadvantaged communities. The Super Trouper’s programme is seeking funding for its 2019 season to transport learners to and from critical performance opportunities. Contact bonwabise@gmail.com or check out our Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/bonwadance) for more information on how you can contribute.

The BDC can offer the dance styles listed below as weekly group classes, workshops, private lessons, parties, and corporate events. We also offer choreography for ceremonies, musicals, festivals, weddings, events, choral groups, and other groups or individuals. Please be in contact with BDC about any performance opportunities, choreography, or classes.

African Diasporic Dance

Music videos, musical theatre, breakdancing, tap, J-pop, and voguing all share something in common: they come from a lineage of North African dance. When the African peoples were spread across the globe their culture came with them. Their dance and music has drastically shaped the world and the media landscape we inhabit. Let us honour and acknowledge Africa’s impact on global culture by learning how the key principals of North African Dances live on in a diversity of styles.

Improvisation & Choreography

How does one go about creating choreography? In this class we will explore different choreographic methods and improvisational tools that can be used to craft movement. Learners will use these methods to begin work on their own dance! Creating choreography doesn’t have to be intimidating, but can be an exciting way to challenge yourself as a dancer and artist.

BalletRIP

BalletRIP represents the optimal fitness model- intelligently integrating all anatomical dimensions, planes and paradoxes of movement underlined by the principals of sports science. By making the principles of classical ballet explicit and transparent through simple, fun and dynamic movement sequences, participants learn how to stand, how to move and, in so doing, wield mind and body together and create stunningly beautiful form.

Contemporary Ballet

This class takes a fun and lively approach to a traditional ballet class. Students will explore how the foundations of the technique can be employed for different stylistic intents and how the boundaries of ballet can be pushed in exciting new artistic directions.

Contemporary Dance

This expressive style of dance uses technical elements from Modern, Jazz, Lyrical, Hip Hop, Ballet, and African dance to develop dynamic and meaningful movement. Contemporary dancers are some of the most well rounded and artistically poignant. In this class learners will build their knowledge of basic movement principals and anatomical structures to develop a wide range of practical and creative skills.

Fundamentals of Contact Improvisation and Contemporary Partnering

The technique of Contact Improvisation is the framework that has shaped Modern and Contemporary dance partnering into what we see today. Students will explore the basic improvisational structures of CI through fun and challenging exercises, then learn how they relate to contemporary partnering techniques.

Laban-Bartinieff Modern

A dynamic modern class focused on Laban-Bartinieff Technique. Students will learn the basic tenets of Laban Movement Analysis and explore how those concepts create efficiency and functionality of movement in the practice of Modern Dance.

Somatic Mindfulness Practices

Take a moment to rest and learn about mindful movement practices. Teianna is a level 1 certified EastWest practitioner and is avidly curious about Somatic approaches and how they can contribute to developing technique and performance ability. Somatics is the practice of connecting mind and body through the awareness of movement. This class will teach students the basic principles of any somatic practice and how those principals can be used as tools to continually enhance a dancers practice, melt away stress and tension, and lead to self-awareness.