The intention of this work is to present perspectives on post-apartheid dance in South Africa by South African authors. Beginning with an historical context for dance in SA, the book moves on to reflect the multiplicity of bodies, voices and stories suggested by the title. Given the diversity of conflicting realities experienced by artists in this country, contentious issues have deliberately been juxtaposed in an attempt to draw attention to the complexity of dancing on the ashes of apartheid. Although the focus is dance since 1994, all chapters are rooted in an historical analysis and offer a view of the field. This book is ground breaking as it is the first of its kind to speak of contemporary dance in South Africa and the first singular body of work to have emerged in any book form that attempts to provide a cohesive account of the range of voices within dance in post-apartheid South Africa. The book is scholarly in nature and has wide applications for colleges and universities, without alienating dance lovers or minds curious about dance in Africa. Mindful of its wide audience, the writing deliberately adopts an uncomplicated, reader-friendly tone, given the diversity of audiences including dance students, dance scholars, critics and general dance lovers that it will attract.
About the Author: Sharon Friedman holds a BA (Hons) degree in History, an MMus (Dance Education) and a Postgraduate Diploma in Education. Trained in classical ballet, contemporary dance and jazz dance, she taught extensively in both primary and high schools before moving into Arts Education. Her teaching experience includes initiating, co-ordinating and teaching dance and movement programmes in a wide range of community projects in Cape Town, and she has choreographed extensively in the contemporary dance medium as well as for opera and music theatre. Sharon is co-author of Teaching Creative Dance - A Handbook. She was a member of the Dance and the Child International Executive from 2001-2003. As a Senior Lecturer at the UCT School of Dance until she retired in 2011, she lectured in Contemporary Dance, Dance History and Teaching Methodology. She has presented papers at local and international dance conferences and published articles in journals--the main focus being dance education and contemporary dance performance in South Africa. Post-retirement, Sharon works as a freelance dance education consultant and academic editor.