Cion: Requiem of Ravel’s Boléro

Set in a graveyard filled with the persistent cries of visitors in mourning and the poignant music of Isicathamiya singers (an a cappella singing style originating from the Zulus),Cion: Requiem of Ravel’s Boléro vividly elicits emotions associated with the loss of life.

Physically charged and visually striking, the work is choreographed by South African native and internationally-known choreographer Gregory Vuyani Maqoma and performed by the Vuyani Dance Theatre. Cion draws inspiration from author Zakes Mda’s novel, Cion and Ravel’s Boléro, and is, in Maqoma’s words, “a lament, a requiem required to awaken a part of us, the connection to the departed souls.”