Remember This Name: A Review of Mahle Dlambulo’s Umzimba
The body as site for new directions in dance & storytelling
Written by Julia Norrish
This article was originally published by Capo Cassidy on Call Off the Search and has been reproduced with kind permission.
Watching Mahle Dlambulo (he/they) on stage feels like being in the presence of something prescient, something significant. In their debut solo show, Umzimba (‘Body’ in English) Dlambulo’s raw creative energy is refined into a performance so concentrated and clean that it feels prophetic.
Incredibly, the 1-hour solo show is choreographed, directed, and performed by Dlambulo himself… and he’s still a student!
Umzimba was a masterclass in physical storytelling, a hypnotic journey where the body becomes both language and landscape. The piece unfolds like a ritual: evoking the body as a site of dis-ease, transformation, memory and catharsis.
Throughout, we see the seams of influence from his upbringing in Gugulethu as a queer black being, his studies in Gender and Applied Pedagogy and his deep regard for the physical experience. Our body as our home.
Every visual, every sound, was conceptualised, crafted and produced by Dlambulo and fellow student collaborators (Anathi Ntshikila and Yolanda Ntanyana) in just two months. That’s a staggering feat for any production team let one alone in their early 20s who have their studies to tend to.
The production winds through segments of dance with varied energies, using changes in pace and place to hold the audience’s eye. Key moments pull us through the unfolding. After a dramatic opening floor sequence evoking unease within the body, an intentional struggle to pull back the stage curtain reveals Dlambulo’s magnified image on screen. A pre-recorded segment gives us scenes of the body wild in nature – though still withholds a sense of peace or homecoming.
This filmed interlude gives Mahle time for a costume change and then one of the most compelling re-entries I’ve witnessed. Regaled in the same outfit as worn on screen (a traditional amaXhosa blanket born during male initiations ceremonies), Mahle walks towards his own body made huge, regal.
They’re looking at a version of themselves in the past through present eyes and we look with them. It was powerful stuff, made more potent by what followed: 4 minutes of breath-taking stillness as Mahle turned to assess us, looking at him. After a show made meaningful through movement, this calm brought a strong sense of peace to the room. He had us spellbound.
Then, before sending us on our way, another moment of magic: A bowl containing 280 phrases on paper was handed to the audience and passed around, to take as offering. Each paper named a part of his identity prefaced with “Ndikuna Mna”, meaning “I give you me”. Some of us received Gugulethu, the place they grew up. I got the name of a family relative … it felt a sacred moment that created a direct and unique connection between every member in the audience and Mahle.
A final sequence rounded out this stellar show with a bang: set to a soundtrack composed of overlaid phrases from Queer Black Gospel, one got the sense that the past was processed, the present brought peace, and the future was here. Aluta continua.
Last week, if you’d told me I’d be utterly beguiled by a performance told primarily through movement, I might have doubted you. But on a chilly Tuesday evening at the TheatreArts in Obs, Umzimba did exactly that. It harked back to the power of silent film and classical ballet, mediums that demand the audience lean in, interpret and really feel with the performers in order to know the meaning. In doing so, we are changed too.
Prophetic, poignant and precise. This is grassroots theatre at its finest – proof that South Africa’s artistic future burns bright. Mahle, an alum of the https://igugulethuartsproject.co.za/our-team/ Igugu-lethu Arts and Leadership Project (spearheaded by the visionary Olwethu Katase and supported by my fellow-mountain-walker Kamohelo Mabogwane), moves with the precision of a seasoned artist and the urgency of a generation with everything to say. It was a pleasure to bear witness.
Remember the name: Mahle Dlambulo is not just a director or performer; they’re a force and Umzimba deserves to travel far and wide.
This article was originally published by Capo Cassidy on Call Off the Search and has been reproduced with kind permission. Click here to read the original article.
