Mzansi Cymru is a major arts project spearheaded by Valleys Kids that links the people and communities of the South Wales Valleys and the township of Langa in Cape Town, South Africa, culminating in a large scale theatre performance as part of Wales' Cultural Olympiad happening alongside the London Olympics in 2012.
The project is a large scale, open access, intergenerational community production written by Laurence Allan with music by Paula Gardiner. It involves local performers alongside professional artists across many artforms and activities photography, design, writing, film-making, art and crafts in South Wales and South Africa over a 4 year period, culminating in a performance called Torchbearers at Wales Millennium Centre in the Donald Gordon Theatre, as a co-production with the venue, on Friday 21 and Saturday 22 July.
The project is inspired by the iconic film Zulu (featuring Welsh stars Stanley Baker and Ivor Emmanuel) which was made in 1964, at a moment when history was being made in South Africa, as Nelson Mandela was sent to Robbin Island at the beginning of his 27 year-long incarceration.
At the beginning of the project in 2008, Valleys Kids commissioned award winning Welsh writer, Laurence Allan to write and be overall Artistic Co-ordinator, renowned musician and composer, Paula Gardiner as Musical Director / Composer and Sarah Cole of SC Productions (The Passion in Port Talbot with Michael Sheen).
In South Africa it is being spearheaded by Victor and Linda Ntoni from the Music Lab in Johannesburg and by percussion group Amampondo in Cape Town.
Amampondo from Langa, Nelson Mandela’s favourite band, are at the heart of the collboration.
This ambitious international project, initiated by Valleys Kids, seeks to develop long-term, mutually beneficial links with Townships in Cape Town.
The aim is to engage with professional connect Welsh and South African artists (actors, musicians, singers, dancers, drummers, photographers, film-makers, set designers, costume makers) and community groups and inspire intergenerational participation across all art forms, in each community, particularly aiming to reach hard to reach and disadvantaged individuals and having a profound and lasting effect on their lives. |
