Introdans at JOMBA! festival South Africa
Introdans has been invited to the JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience from 5-10 September 2026 in South Africa. The programme HEROES includes a new version of the inclusive choreography Iungo in collaboration with the Flatfoot Dance Company, alongside excerpts from In Memoriam by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Mano a mano by Iratxe Ansa and Igor Bacovich, and Brightest Darkness by Flatfoot Dance Company.
JOMBA! takes place in Durban, South Africa, from 25 August to 6 September 2026, followed by the satellite festival JOMBA! @ The Market Theatre in Johannesburg from 9 to 12 September 2026. Our performances will take place on 5 and 6 September in Durban, and on 9 and 10 September in Johannesburg.
In addition to the performances, Introdans teachers will lead dance workshops in Pietermaritzburg from 31 August to 3 September 2026 at St Nicholas Diocesan School and Riverwood College, as well as during the festival in Durban on 4 September. Former Introdans dancer and répétiteur Giuseppe Calabrese will also give a Larbi repertoire workshop to dance students in Johannesburg on 10 September 2026.
Impressions 2026
Mano a mano – Igor Bacovich and Iratxe Ansa
The duet Mano a mano carries the motto “A tightrope walk between you and me” and is set to the rich music of Astor Piazzolla’s Otoño Porteño. Igor Bacovich and Iratxe Ansa had long cherished the wish to explore this music in a choreography, and with this ballet they have realised that ambition. They created the work in June 2025 for Theater Osnabrück in Germany, and it will now receive its Introdans premiere.
In Memoriam – Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui (excerpt)
In Memoriam is a contemporary masterpiece about loss and memory, paying homage to the ancestors of choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. The rustling skirts and swiftly moving video images propel the dancers forward in this meditative performance. Comfort and sorrow are wrapped in a soothing, warm embrace, according to the press.
Iungo – Adriaan Luteijn
Following previous editions in Beijing, Tokyo, Belo Horizonte, São Paulo, Jakarta, Bogotá and the Netherlands, a new version of the inclusive choreography Iungo by Adriaan Luteijn will be presented in Durban at the JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience, in collaboration with the Flatfoot Dance Company and featuring guest performers Joseph Tebandeke and Eva Eikhout. For this edition, Luteijn works with a mixed cast consisting of professional dancers from Flatfoot Dance Company alongside guest performers Joseph and Eva. Read more.
Brightest Darkness – Zinhle Nzama
Brightest Darkness explores the deep paradox of finding light within darkness. It is an intimate duet between a man and a woman, where these two figures navigate tension, resistance, connection, and letting go as an act of courage rather than defeat. Ultimately, this work offers audiences a testament to survival and triumph. Zinhle Nzama is a senior FLATFOOT dancer whose journey into the role of choreographer has been a gentle and fluid trajectory.
Our visit to South Africa 2026 has been made possible with the support of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Dutch Embassy in South Africa.