Mandela's Dancers
Synopsis
The documentary film explores an unknown chapter in post South African liberation. In 1993, Lady Anya Sainsbury, a former principal ballerina at Royal Ballet in London, met Nelson Mandela at a party in South Africa. They both agreed for her to set up a dance scholarship programme at the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance in London, which provided 23 of South Africa’s talented young dance students between 1995 to 2003, with the opportunity to follow their dance dreams.
The film highlights the personal experiences of six of those dancers that subsequently met Mandela in London at a dinner party in Lady Sainsbury’s house in 1999, they are Mandela’s Dancers.
The film combines archival dance photographs and video footage spanning over fifteen years, with excerpts from the student performances and candid recollections. Mandela’s Dancers is not about the triumph of the human spirit or any other of the top 10 favourite dance clichés. It’s about something far rarer and of vastly greater significance – it’s about real life. It’s about how Nelson Mandela changed the face of contemporary dance!
Details
- Year
- 2015
- Type of film
- Features
- Running Time
- 60 min
- Format
- digibita
- Director
- Rodreguez King-Dorset
- Producer
- Rodreguez King-Dorset
- Principal Cast
- Lady Anya Sainsbury, John Moabi, Thabiso Manare, Penelope Thloloe, Andrea Schermoly, Andile Sotiya, Hendrick January
- Contact
- officeofrodreguezkingdorset@gmail.com
Genre
Production status
Complete
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Last updated 6th September 2024
