The Rosca Project will be on at The Dance Factory

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Local children inspire choreographer WORKING with a group of Roodepoort children, international choreographer Samir Akika has created a multimedia theatrical event to be staged at the Dance Factory from 13 January. January 6, 2006 By Ndaba Dlamini THE Rosca Project, a multimedia production by internationally renowned choreographer Samir Akika, is set to wow the Newtown audience when it opens at The Dance Factory on 13 January. Created with the children of Rosca House, a children's home in Roodepoort, the project features dance, theatre, live music and a video experience that "aims for the impact of a documentary film that acquaints you with the protagonists", says Akika. The choreographer sees himself as an anthropologist, sociologist and journalist "trying to get authentic statements". Rosca House was started by Siyabonga Mhlongo in 1999 to help children "discover their talents". Originally based in Hillbrow, Rosca House has grown from a small organisation into a home that now accommodates 65 children aged between 16 months to 20 years. Akika decided to work with the children from Rosca House for the "symbolic dimensions that they represent". "The future is very important not only for them but also for this country. I see a connection between what happened in their lives and the history of South Africa, what little I know of it." Born in Algiers, Algeria in 1967, Akika grew up in Paris and studied dance at Hochschule Essen in Germany. He has staged four premieres and won several prizes for choreography. His choreographic style is meant to combine the formal language of dancing with the visual medium of films, to produce a new cinematic dance-theatre. The Rosca Project, sponsored by The Goethe Institute Johannesburg, the French Institute South Africa and the French Embassy SA, is on at The Dance Factory in Newtown until 15 January. For more information, call 011 833 1347. Permission to use web site material Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as: Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website (www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency (www.joburg.org.za)"; If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original article on this website; The name of the article's author is acknowledged; The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill in this brief online form). Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 Print this Page E-mail this article to a friend Help using Joburg.org.za