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Eager Artists return to Western New York
By SUE WUETCHER
Reporter Editor
Members of a South African theatre troupe are back in UB classrooms this week, offering their unique perspective to theatre and dance students as part of a return engagement to UB and Western New York.
Eager Artists Theatre Company of Durban, South Africa, which presented "The Living Room Project" in various homes in Western New York last fall, is back for another residency at UB, one that also will involve numerous outreach activities in the community, as well as at the university.
The South African theater company Eager Artists has returned to Western New York for another residency at UB, one that will include outreach activities in the community, as well as at the university.
Jerry Pooe, founder and director of Eager Artists, will direct a production of the Athol Fugard play, "The Island," for the Irish Classical Theatre Company (ICTC). Vincent O'Neill, chair of the UB Department of Theatre and Dance, is artistic director and co-founder of ICTC. The play, which opens tonight and will run through Nov. 24 in the Andrews Theatre, 625 Main St., Buffalo, stars Mbheki Mabhida and Wonderboy Gumede, two members of Eager Artists.
While in Western New York, the company also will present a program entitled "African Journey through Dance" at schools in Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Cheektowaga and Wheatfield. The program is an expanded 60-minute presentation based on the 30-minute "Living Room" dance program presented in Buffalo last fall. The new presentation traces various styles of dance, from early 20th-century gumboot dancing to more modern club dancing like quieto—the current equivalent of U.S. "house/dance music," says Rob Falgiano, assistant director of the Center for the Arts who has been instrumental in bringing Eager Artists to Buffalo.
As they did last fall, the South Africans will work with UB students during this return visit, lecturing and conducting master's classes and workshops in music, dance and theater, Falgiano adds.
Moreover, the company has been hired by the Arts in Education Institute of Western New York to do some collaborative performances with a West African dance troupe called Les Guirivoires," he says.
The visit to Western New York will culminate with a production of the troupe's new musical, "Mine Ghosts," at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 24 in the Mainstage theater in the CFA, North Campus. Tickets are $10 for general admission and $8 for UB students and can be purchased in the CFA box office.
"Mine Ghosts" is based on the gumboot dancing and a cappella singing competitions performed by South African miners every Friday and Saturday night, says Thomas Burrows, director of the CFA. Gumboot dancing is the coordinated, rhythmic dancing performed by the miners while wearing their workboots. Pooe's inspiration for "Mine Ghosts" was a performance of the dance group Tap Dogs that Pooe attended in the CFA while in Buffalo last fall for the Living Room Project, says Falgiano.
"To him, the parallels were very obvious" to "gumboot dancing," he says. "He was like, 'I want to do a show like that (Tap Dogs)" with something that was native to his culture. Although Eager Artists already included gumboot dancing in its performances, the Tap Dogs show provided the "spark" for Pooe to put together "Mine Ghosts," he says.
After leaving Buffalo, most likely on Dec. 3, the group will present two performances of "Ekhaya Poppie"—a musical that had its North American premiere in the Mainstage last fall—in Michigan, and also may perform in Minnesota before flying back to South Africa, Falgiano says.
In an interview last spring, Burrows and Falgiano raved when recalling the earlier visit of Eager Artists. In the Living Room Project, members of the company performed short plays, sang, dance and told stories for small audiences—ranging anywhere from 20 to 100 spectators—in private homes and in community centers in Buffalo. After the performances, the cast shared a meal and conversation with their hosts and audiences.
While Eager Artists' visit last fall was funded with a $100,000 grant from the Association of Performing Arts Presenters Arts Partners Program, the funding for this fall's visit has come from a variety of sources, Falgiano says, including the CFA and the Western New York delegation to the New York State Assembly. Assembly Majority Leader Paul Tokasz and Assemblywoman Francine Delmonte were particularly helpful, he notes.
In addition, the company will earn fees from the various theaters and organizations for which it will perform, he adds.