“To ask something of the ancestors, you have to be able to give something in return.”
With The Sacrifice, choreographer Dada Masilo explores the minimalism and connection with nature and animals of Tswana dance through the lens of Pina Bausch’s interpretation of Igor Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring.
Masilo, who grew up in South Africa in a Xhosa environment, and rose to the highest heights of European ballet, explores her own origins with her trademark combination of traditional, contemporary, and classical dance. The Sacrifice is an exploration of the pain and suffering humans can inflict on each other. What must we sacrifice? How can we start again differently? Is sacrifice essential for change? On the stage, four musicians and 10 dancers form a community whose humour and rituals make cruelty bearable—just.