This year, KIU was curated for the Main Programme at the National Arts Festival (NAF). The annual festival is one of the largest arts festivals on the African continent and one of the largest performing arts festivals in the world by visitor numbers.
The production KIU performed to nearly complete houses and had loud standing ovations at the Rhodes Theatre at Grahamstown on the 1st and 2nd of July. The output returns to a State Theatre where it premiered last year. Tickets are R100 at Computicket outlets nationwide and online at https://goo.gl/h1R9kh. Tuesdays are half-price.
KIU, the Swahili word for thirst, is a diverse narrative signifying Africa's critical age of drought and the significance of preserving water. Inspired by the ancient African rain dance, 'Kiu' is a plea for rainfall. It is written, directed, and choreographed by the University of Pretoria and Tshwane University of Technology's part-time drama lecturer, Mduduzi Vincent Nhlapo.
A poignant and unbridled quest for redemption to quench the thirst that seems to be destabilizing humanity, this thirst is highlighted as human's great desire leading to dystopia and civil unrest. "Kiu is a profound and moving dance experience. Raw, sensitive, intense, hostile, sensuous, meditative and soul-searching. Performed to hauntingly beautiful live Afrocentric music," urges Nhlapo.
Nhlapo's name was not new to the National Arts Festival as many would recall him being the Golden Ovation award winner with the production 'Anatomy of Weather' (2011) by Bailey Snyman and Nicola Haskins, performed in Amsterdam Fringe and was rated the highlight of the festival. He is an acclaimed playwright, choreographer, and performer known for his robust, controversial, provocative, and cutting-edge political content and resistance. His stance is known in theatre works such as 'Who Stole the E-toll,' 'The Absent Figure,' 'Revolution by the Dead,' and 'And Rocks and Roses.' More recently, he choreographed the latest Freedom musical by the State Theatre's artistic Director Aubrey Sekhabi.
