Where can I even begin? First of all I must thank Crying Out Loud for believing in me and my work. I didn’t anticipate being given the opportunity, so early in my career, to take my work-in-progress I Am. Am I abroad and to be a part of MyBodyMySpace 10 year festival celebrating Forgotten Angle Theatre Collective’s 30 years anniversary.

In March, I spent 10 days in rural Mpumalanga near eMakhazeni, a township two hours east of Johannesburg, South Africa. And – if I may be cheesy – the experience was extremely meaningful and it has changed my life.

In Forgotten Angle Theatre Collective’s (FATC) initiative to rekindle relationships with local primary and secondary schools post Covid, The Arteries Programme of the festival stands to shape community activations and social cohesion through workshops in arts, culture, and sustainability. I facilitated Krump and Parkour workshops with the grand assistance of FATC staff and interns. The young students were SO engaged, it blew me away to see each of them so eager to learn, the energy in the room was like no other. With Zulu dance being part of Krump’s roots, it felt extra special to have been the one sharing the spirit of Krump with them.

The workshops took place before the curated series of public performances (CNS program), in which I presented a work-in-progress outdoor version of I Am. Am I. It was the first time the work was seen outdoors (and outside the UK), and it felt fresh and nerve wracking! I tested new ideas aiming to connect better with the local people (creatively using props like Oros juice and Castor oil) and the audiences were so supportive, a type of warmth so different to the UK. What a crowd they were, and I was so glad that some of the young students I taught were able to make the performance.

The other commissioned performances were so diverse. I am especially inspired by how each artist situated their work, giving a deeper meaning to site-specific as a genre – Smangaliso Ngwenya, Mandylin Productions, Sandile Masin, Fana Tshabalala and Twice Euphoric to name a few. I learned a lot through FATC’s A:Practice mini conference – starting with a sustainability talk with the township’s government rep and then a showcase of art installations and dance pieces.

But what really hit me was the humanness of every person I met. It reminded me of the East Asian values I grew up with in Hong Kong – a simple gesture of greeting everyone in the room upon entering, a form of respect and warmth that somehow rarely exists in the UK. With the intermittent water and electricity outages, again made me think of home, reminded me that there are so many ways to make do with what you have and get on with life. Beautiful souls like Tshego Khutsoane made me feel as if I’ve met people there in a parallel life – we realised we listen to the same music, talking about hip hop roots, the use of South African words in UK hip hop music, my love for The Soil a South African music group, as well as the cast of Dark Noon by Fix+Foxy, being complimented that the dance energy I emit resembles Jaja Vankova an OG dancer who has been leading the scene for years. The shared synergy all felt like I have come full circle.