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Ballroom Bliss Handover (Soweto)
Ballroom Bliss Handover marks the next step in deufert&plischke’s long-standing artistic practice, in which dance is understood not only as expression but as a generator of community. For over two decades, they have approached choreography as a social art form – a space in which society is not merely represented, but collectively created.
In this handover, the artists consciously pass the project on to other artists, opening Ballroom Bliss as a shared framework for new interpretations and embodiments. The first handover took place with the artists Gaby Saranouffi and Moeketsi Koena, who hosted a Ballroom event in the heart of Soweto.
Dedicated to the transformative power of dancing together, Ballroom Bliss Handover creates a space in which collective movement continues to generate new forms of togetherness – now shaped by multiple artistic voices and situated knowledges.
We have been working towards this project for more than two years. At a time when sustainability, community and participation are widely discussed, yet cultural and funding policies are constantly shifting and increasingly make sustainable ways of working difficult, our transcontinental collaboration as a collective faced numerous challenges – and none of our funding applications were successful. This makes it all the more meaningful that, through joint efforts and with the support of the export funding programme of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, we were ultimately able to realise Ballroom Bliss as a performance and community project in Soweto.
Together with Moeketsi Koena, Gaby Saranouffi, Thabiso Pule, Welcome Mlindzeleni Maphalala, Caroline Hlatshwayo, Lena Berger, our children Simon and Moritz, the wonderful team of I’Trotra ART X Connection NPC, and many helping hands from the Soweto community, something truly special came into being. We would also like to extend our sincere thanks to the Goethe-Institut Johannesburg, which hosted a workshop as part of the project.
Ballroom Bliss became an extraordinary, emotional and high-energy event – one in which we ourselves were guests, supported and carried by the local community in Soweto.
Out of this shared work, the film RONA emerged. RONA is a collective film by deufert&plischke, created in close collaboration with Moeketsi Koena, Gaby Saranouffi and Thabiso Heccius Pule. Structured around the artist portraits of Gaby Saranouffi and Moeketsi Koena, the film moves between everyday life in Yeoville (Johannesburg) and the ballroom in Soweto.
At its core are collaboration, shared experience and voices that are often overlooked – particularly those of women, children and families, set against the backdrop of increasing gender-based violence.
The film was produced by deufert&plischke and I’Trotra ART X Connection NPC,
co-produced with the Pina Bausch Zentrum, and realised with the support of the Goethe-Institut Johannesburg.
Premiere:
RONA will celebrate its first public screening on 7 March at the Bapedi Hall.
The film will not be available online and will be shown exclusively at festivals.
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