Ballet Black: Black Sun

(This is a past event and is no longer running)

Celebrating 20 years of Ballet Black, a film of ballet Black Sun is followed by a Q&A session with the artistic team behind its creation and how the diverse storytelling by Ballet Black is influencing the development of classical ballet today.

Black Sun is a work that draws energy from the sun and the moon, giving rise to descendants of ancestors. We live to tell stories not forgetting we live to be ancestors. The sun and moon only meet to blacken, allowing us to draw from their powers as we prepare for life after life. In this work we explore the spiritual influence of our ancestors that push, pull, and often guide our own journeys. From an ever-changing palette of intergenerational experience, we navigate our lives surrounded by the influence of the past, the present and in turn the effect of those influences on others.  The men’s trio explores the additional influence of the merging of cultures and the challenges of navigating the intersection of ancestral passage. The sense of ritual, of rites of passage and what those effects those have on our lives.  The word ‘Abangoma’ or ‘The Healers ‘, sung during the group drumming conveys that we can ebb and flow as individuals but move forward together sharing a sense of community.

This work has asked that the cast dig deep, to be willing and submissive to supernatural powers and to be open to the possibilities of going home, back to the source. The music by Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante allows the ear to hear beyond the notes, to feel the pulse of the heartbeat. Being with Ballet Black in the creation of this took me home, and I know now that home is where I am most free.  – Gregory Maqoma (Choreographer)