Mamela Nyamza (South Africa): Hatched Ensemble

  • May 30 - 31, 2025

  • PS21 : Center for Contemporary Performance

    2980 New York 66
    Chatham, New York 12037
Ticket Price $17.50-$35.00 Buy Tickets
Description

“A formally rigorous and deeply beautiful piece of dance… both direct and subtle, cleverly wrought and deeply felt, absolutely stunning to see” (The Guardian).

 

In its US premiere, Hatched Ensemble is an autobiographical work reflecting on South African choreographer Mamela Nyamza’s life as a mother, lesbian and artist. Nyamza’s earlier work, Hatched (2008) launched her artistic signature of unapologetically demystifying, deconstructing, and trampling on the norms and standards of the classics.

 

In Hatched Ensemble, the work is extended to include nine classically-trained ballet dancers from different ethnic backgrounds. The dancers confront the deeply personal and challenging issues of tradition, sexual evolution, and racial and gender norms within the dance classics. Says Nyamza, “Hatched Ensemble speaks to anyone who has felt conflicted about their own identity and where they belong in the status quo.” 

 

Accompanied by an opera singer and a traditional African multi-instrumentalist, the piece juxtaposes disparate movement vocabularies, referencing traditional African vocal scores, classical Western music, ballet, and beyond. 

 

With subtle gestures and enormous sensitivity, Hatched Ensemble opens up a whole universe, one that dance history would never have suspected to exist, overflowing with urgency and subtle virtuosity.

 

“Panoramic, poetic and visually arresting work…her work is imbued with delicacy, scope and a strong authentic intelligence” (The Times, London)

Date & Time

May 30 - 31, 2025

Venue Details

PS21 : Center for Contemporary Performance

2980 New York 66
Chatham, New York 12037 PS21 : Center for Contemporary Performance
PS/21 Inc

Support PS21

Even in the best of times, ticket sales cover only a fraction of PS21’s costs; therefore, we rely on you to continue supporting our endeavors. Please consider making a donation today.

 

About PS21

A vibrant center for contemporary performance in the Hudson Valley, PS21 “presents work that challenges and invites” (The New York Times): adventurous productions by leading and emerging American and international artists in music, dance, and theater, and visionaries creating entirely new genres. On our open-air Pavilion Theater stage, across our expansive, unspoiled grounds, and in the diverse surrounding communities, PS21 cultivates and presents productions that transcend aesthetic boundaries and revitalize existing artistic languages and grammars. Throughout the year, we host developmental residencies for dancers, musicians, actors, and creators of original, even unclassifiable new work. Rooted in community collaboration, PS21’s programming engages creatively with critical global and social issues. It is a mecca for innovative and original artistic voices, a destination for performance that can be experienced nowhere else in the region. PS21’s Pavilion Theater is a green-energy marvel surrounded by 100 acres of unspoiled meadows, trails, and woodlands that are a haven to wildlife and visitors across the region.  Integrated into our unspoiled campus, the theater embodies our commitments to the public: open, inviting, and optimized for their enjoyment and encouraging citizen expression and participation.

 

Photography
PS21 will take photos of this event for use in social media and on our website. The photos sometimes include audiences. Your attendance at this performance indicates you consent to appear in PS21 photography. If you would prefer not to appear in any photos, please let a staff member know, and we will be glad to accommodate your request.


Find more PS/21 Inc Events and Performing & Visual Arts events in Chatham