Dancers from Europe and Africa, differing in age, physique, background and language, together on stage. They do not form a uniform corps – each displays their own way of moving. Step by step they appear: take Andile Vellem, emerging with a light-footed hop in shiny patent leather shoes; Sophie Warnant, in bright pink clogs that clatter loudly; or Joseph Tebandeke, who moves on crutches, creating an unexpected rhythm. Every body speaks its own language.
Choreographer Lisi Estaras depicts a paradise that is not perfect. Not a naïve dream, but a space where everyone can be who they are, without norms or judgement. Between humour, absurdity and emotion, the vision of the ideal rubs up against reality. The focus shifts from limitation to potential. It is not the lack, but the power of being different that takes centre stage.
In What We Can Do Together, sign language, the spoken word, silence and dance flow into one another. Duos and small groups meet, feel their way, react. Sometimes powerful and rhythmic, at other times fragile and quiet. The outcome that emerges feels like a dialogue between people who do not naturally share the same language, yet still manage to find one another.
