iKapa Dance Theatre was founded in 2007 as a Non-Profit organisation by Theo Ndindwa and Tanya Arshamian –two young, passionate dancers who identified a lack of black representation in South Africa’s dance industry. The company was established as a vehicle through which social change in local communities could be facilitated through the upliftment of mental, emotional and physical wellbeing of the youth. iKapa Dance’s broad vision was built around empowerment through dance. This ambition has steered the company into creating productions that are socially relevant and communicate issues affecting all South Africans, with a focus on youth impact.
GOALS and OBJECTIVES OF IKAPA’S YOUTH DANCE DEVELOPMENT & DANCE SPACE- Transformation: Uses the arts as a vehicle for social transformation via educational empowerment of South Africa’s disadvantaged youth.
- Youth Development: Promotes the physical, mental and emotional wellbeing through dedicated dance training programmes taught by industry professionals.
- Equity & Redress: Provides a platform for culturally diverse high-quality artistic creation and skills-development.
- Artistic Innovation and Arts Promotion: Fosters and enhances an appreciation of the performing arts through accessible, affordable and relevant locally produced productions for a wide-ranging audience.
- Preservation and Development in the Arts: Develops cross-cultural learning through relationships with national and international organisations.
- Job Creation: Training for talented South African youth from all social and racial backgrounds that groom its students for careers in professional dance and arts administration.
iKAPA’S YOUTH DANCE DEVELOPMENT & DANCE SPACE OVERVIEW
iKapa utilises artistic excellence in dance as a mechanism to create socially relevant, publicly engaging, audience centered performance’s that utilise social trends around current issues, in ways that are entertaining, inspiring and installs appreciation for innovative artistic creations and performances.
iKapa uses Dance to positively contribute to the development, redress and upliftment of youths in the communities of Cape Town though artistic training and life skills development that is accessible and affordable to all.
To achieve the goals of the project the following activities have been designed:
- Professional company: creates and stages unique, educational and world-class dance theatre productions. Exposing existing and new audiences throughout South Africa
- Youth Dance Theatre and Apprenticeship program: platforms for cultural integration and refining technical, performance and vocational employment skills for aspiring young artists.
- Training and Outreach School: develops and empowers the youth in the previously disadvantaged communities of Gugulethu, Khayelitsha, Philippi and Crossroads.
- OnPointe Dance Studio: provides commercial adult open dance classes to the wider public. The studio generates income for the organisation and develops a support base for audience development.
- Transformation of Arts Administration and Arts Management: a platform for employee & organisational development, through skills transfer and training support.
- iKapa “Out-House sessions”: a platform for a monthly informal gathering at the iKapa Dance Space, inviting the public to a creative and interactive evening. IKapa Dance Theatre and local artists present short performances. These “Out-House” sessions stabilize and consolidate grassroots organizations and take diverse artistic creations to public spaces in communities across Cape Town.
- iKapa Dance Space: provides a space for artists, choreographies, residencies, collaborations, productions and exhibitions to be created /showcased. The home aims to celebrate new work, innovative art and allow artists from all over the Western Cape to have a platform to strengthen and grow the arts, culture and heritage sector of South Africa. It is the base for iKapa Youth Dance Development activities.
- Youth Development Centre: an area for all Arts & Culture activities to take place under one umbrella, providing skills and teaching to all involved. This is a space of safety, learning, empowerment and education.