Event information
Gregory Maqoma presents his powerful new music and dance work Cion: Requiem of Ravel’s Boléro.
This showcase takes place during his GM50 Legacy Werkend at Joburg Theatre.
The award-winning theatrical experience is carried by the transformative singing of an African gospel quartet and features a rousing live score based on the stirring harmonies of Isicathamiya — an a capella style originating from the Zulu people.
Inspired by the writings of South African novelist Zakes Mda and Maurice Ravel’s legendary composition, the work weaves a narrative of greed, power, and communal mourning. The hauntingly complex and percussive performance is set in a graveyard, following a designated mourner as he navigates the tension of a post-Apartheid South Africa.
Maqoma described the production as “celebratory of our human experience,” and a ritual to free the souls of “those who have departed, those who were taken from the continent through slavery” so that they may “find peace.
Audiences also have an opportunity to purchase a ticket and attend Gregory Maqoma and friends gala dinner.
