"The Rite of Spring" at the National Theatre

If there is one powerful African dance company that has single-handedly revolutionized contemporary dance in Uganda, working in fusion with the European style, it is the Uganda National Contemporary Ballet.

The posse of lithe dancers will put up a weekend of mesmerising performance on Friday and Saturday (23-24^th April 2010) in the National Theatre auditorium here in Kampala, at 7:30 pm respectively, and tickets are already on sale at our Booking Office.

You cannot afford to the miss the highlight ballet, The Rite of Spring (le sacre du printemps) on the well known music of Igor Stravisky with live percussions by one of Uganda's best percussionists, Hermann Ssewanyana, and other 11 dancers of Uganda National Contemporary Ballet.

"I have always wished to create this great work, Rite of Spring, but before now was never able to find the dancers I needed," says choreographer Valerie Miquel, on Stravinsky's masterpiece. "And now I have found them; the Uganda National Contemporary Ballet has what it takes; thanks to them we can now present this fantastic piece of music and dance."

Igor Stravisky (1882 -1971) was a quintessential Russian composer, pianist and conductor, in fact, is considered one of the world’s most outstanding influential composer of 20^th century music. According to wikipedia, The Rite of Spring did not earn Stravinsky enviable stature as "a musical revolutionary, pushing the boundaries of musical design," it also "transformed the way in which subsequent composers thought about rhythmic structure…the music's innovative complex rhythmic structures timbres, and use of dissonance have made it a seminal 20th century composition."

When I ask Valérie to tell us in simple terms the story behind the acclaimed dance piece, her eyes dance merrily and she says: "There is no story. For me this music is a celebration of life: life in nature, life of human beings. Spring is the strongest season - the rebirth of nature each year - and is full of strength and energy. Spring is also the season of renewal, where all is new, innocent, and open to everyone. That is why we have among us a little four year-old girl, Martina."

She adds: "The dancers represent all the powerful animalistic instincts of life, which are in all of us. Forget about understanding, just feel free and flow with us through this passionate dance. And celebrate life!"

There will be special guests –the Chinese Kung Fu Club of Kansanga who will present All Men are Brothers and Skar  who will sing where is this Love, a song created for the street children.

Like I said, tickets are being sold at the National Theatre Kampala for 5,000 shillings or  you can call 0773 09 15 86 or 0712 72 74 24.