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ROBYN ORLIN’S
WALKING NEXT TO OUR SHOES…INTOXICATED BY STRAWBERRIES AND CREAM, WE ENTER CONTINENTS WITHOUT KNOCKING… WHEN: February 10–20, 2011; February 10, 11, 17, 18 @ 7:30 PM; February 12, 19 @ 8 PM; February 13, 20 @ 3 PM
WHERE: Alexander Kasser Theater, Montclair State University, 1 Normal Avenue, Montclair
TICKETS: All tickets are $15 and are available at the Alexander Kasser Theater Box Office, by calling 973-655-5112 or online at http://www.peakperfs.org.
Charter bus service is provided from New York City’s Port Authority Bus Terminal—arcade on 41st Street between 8th and 9th Avenues—to the Alexander Kasser Theater ($10 per person, round trip) for all Saturday and Sunday performances. Bus reservations may be made by calling 973.655.5112 or by visiting http://www.peakperfs.org. For train service, available only on weekdays, go online to www.njtransit.com or call 973.275.5555.
For restaurants close to the Alexander Kasser Theater, visit http://www.destinationmontclair.com Montclair State University’s Alexander Kasser Theater will rock and resound with South African music and dance when Robyn Orlin’s riotously exuberant Walking Next to Our Shoes…Intoxicated by Strawberries and Cream, We Enter Continents Without Knocking… receives its United States premiere as part of Peak Performances 2011 season. Featuring ten vividly costumed singers from the theatrically flamboyant Phuphuma Love Minus group, the South African opera/gospel/pop singer Ann Masina, swanker Vusumuzi Kunene and dancers Xolisile Bongwana and Thulani Zwane, the rollicking show with serious underpinnings was seen throughout Europe following its 2009 premiere in Paris, where it returned for a week at le Théâtre de la Ville in October 2010. Phuphuma Love Minus is a traditional South African isicathamiya choir, an all-male form of a cappella singing specific to South African Zulu culture. Isicathamiya, which means “to walk softly” in Zulu, refers to the Zulu travelers who migrated into urban areas at the beginning of the 20th century. The Phuphuma performers move in a carefully choreographed tiptoe style in reference to their forebears, who were forced to walk on tiptoes to avoid making noise in the hostels in which they were housed. The lyrics refer to daily life: nostalgia for homeland, women,dangers of apartheid, the Gospel. As part of the stylish "swanker" tradition of “putting your best foot forward,” cast members will be in the lobby prior to the performance filming eye-catching footwear to potentially be used in the show’s video. Co-produced by City Theatre & Dance Group, Festival Banlieues Bleues, Théâtre de Saint Quentin en Yvelines–Scène Nationale, and the Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg. Additional funding provided by Conseil Général de Seine-Sant-Denis and the Goethe Institute, Johannesburg. Travel support provided in part by CulturesFrance. Special thanks to Mr. Simon Ngubane and Mr. Adolphus Mbuyisa from the Iphimbo Iscathamiya Association where Phuphuma Love Minus is based. The 2010/11 Peak Performances season is made possible in part by funds from the Association of Performing Arts Presenters, The National Endowment for the Arts, The New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Discover Jersey Arts, Alison and James T. Cirenza, and The Honorable Mary Mochary. |
