The first part of this production’s name is a reference to the surrealist novel Cion by the famous South African writer Zakes Mda, which defines the time and the place, and which ultimately twists the action with a kaleidoscope of events from the past and the present.

Dressed up in fedoras and beautiful mourning clothes, wandering ghosts return home to incline the living, against all odds, towards hope before they depart for their eternal rest.

Drawing inspiration from an unassailable international hit – Bolero by the French composer Maurice Ravel (in a reworking by composer Nhlanhla Mahlangu, where the relentless orchestral crescendo is transposed into the South African style of isicathamiya, a form of a capella that combines singing with dancing), Maqoma presents the action on stage as a universal story, tearing through space and time to hymn the human ability to come together and share the burden of grief.

Maqoma’s message, coded in the language of choreography, is that each of us should stop for a moment and consider the pain we have caused to others through our actions.

Cion: Requiem for Ravel’s Bolero is the primal energy of unity embodied in dance. But the main – and paradoxical – thing is that Gregory Maqoma’s production is full of joy. Despite and in contrast with all the suffering the African people experience in life, Resurrection and Joy await them beyond the borders of Death… And the jubilation that pours out in spite of everything will overflow in the hearts of the audience.