Following the Phezulu Project’s great success at the National Arts Festival 2009 (featured briefly on SABC 2’s Morning Live), the NAF have extended their support to ensure the Phezulu Stilt Walkers get high at the prestigious Hilton Festival in KZN this September.
Following the Phezulu Project’s great success at the National Arts Festival 2009 (featured briefly on SABC 2’s Morning Live), the NAF have extended their support to ensure the Phezulu Stilt Walkers get high at the prestigious Hilton Festival in KZN this September.
The Phezulu Project (local vernacular meaning ‘on top’) is a relatively new development initiative supported by the National Arts Festival to give street performers a chance to reach for the stars. In an attempt to revive the traditional, vibrant and festive carnivalesque atmosphere of the Village Green and other arts and craft markets around town, the NAF has helped the Phezulu Project get off the ground.
The project, co-ordinated by Richard Antrobus, a local resident performer for the First Physical Theatre Company, and creator of the sell-out festival hit, “Stilted”, has equipped four unemployed locals with the training and means to walk tall and stand out from the crowd.
Antrobus admits: “It’s a risky business, and although many may question the stability of this project, it proved to be one of the high-points of the Grahamstown Festival this year, enchanting the young and old alike”. Antrobus’ project also caught the attention of Sue Clarence, director of the Hilton Arts Festival, who invited the Phezulu Project to perform at the festival in collaboration with another stilt troupe from KZN.
“It’s a fantastic honour and opportunity that both “Stilted” and the Phezulu Project have been invited to perform at Hilton”, Antrobus exclaims, who is also grateful to the NAF for assisting and nurturing local talent and hopes that the Phezulu Project will eventually develop into a self-sustaining company, providing full-time employment for its members.
“Stilts are tricky – they exhibit length but inhibit strength” chuckles Antrobus, “You have to stay on your toes if you want to keep an audience entertained”. Since the festival in July, the Phezulu boys haven’t stopped taking on new challenges in their stride. Antrobus comments: “We’ve blended various types of street performance to create something unique, developing a new routine which incorporates gumboot dancing on stilts – now that’s something you don’t see everyday. They’re a multi-talented bunch, and being the first known stilt troupe in the Eastern Cape, the guys have been working hard to show KZN what local talent has to offer”.
Catch the Phezulu Project performing on the 19th and 20th Sept @ 12h00 and 14h00 and “Stilted” showcasing at Hilton College on the 19th Sept at 15h00.
