Jazzart’s Our Bodies Remember Introduces A Fresh Wave Of Choreographic Talent To The Stage!
The double bill premieres at Toyota Stellenbosch Woordfees, then continues a riveting Cape Town season at Artscape Theatre.
What do our bodies remember, and what changes when we become fully awake to the lives we are living? Jazzart Dance Theatre explores these questions in Our Bodies Remember, a new double bill created by emerging choreographic leaders Lihle Mfene and Chesney Stanfield, with Jazzart alumnus Emile Petersen.
The production will be presented at the Toyota Stellenbosch Woordfees on 9 and 11 October 2026, followed by an Artscape Theatre season in Cape Town from 15 to 17 October 2026.
At the centre of the season is the idea that the body carries stories, histories, relationships, wounds and possibilities, often long after the mind has moved on. Ancient Souls and Unveil approach that idea from different directions, creating an evening of contemporary dance about memory, awakening and the courage to become.
TWO WORKS, ONE QUESTION
Ancient Souls, choreographed by Lihle Mfene, imagines a timeless realm between life and death. Souls shaped by many lifetimes gather to share memories, emotions and truths. As they reflect and heal, the work asks what we carry forward, what connects us and what it means to rediscover a deeper sense of self.
Unveil, choreographed by Chesney Stanfield with Emile Petersen, turns inward. The work considers the inertia that can settle over everyday life and the metaphorical veil that keeps us from seeing ourselves clearly. Through moments of revelation and confrontation, the dancers face a choice: remain beneath the veil or step into conscious becoming.
Together, the works ask audiences to consider who they have been, who they are and who they may yet become. They also show how contemporary dance can hold everyday human stories, moving between the personal, the spiritual and the social without losing the expressive force that has defined Jazzart for more than five decades.
FROM DEVELOPMENT PATHWAY TO ARTISTIC LEADERSHIP
Our Bodies Remember is the culmination of Jazzart’s 2026 Artistic Residency programme, which supports artists as they move from performance into artistic leadership. The residency develops not only choreographic voice, but also the practical responsibilities of leading professional dancers, planning and scheduling rehearsals, facilitating skills development and managing a creative process.
Both Mfene and Stanfield have progressed through Jazzart’s development pathway. Mfene, from Zolani near Ashton in the Western Cape, trained with Dancescape SA and graduated from the Cape Academy of Performing Arts in 2020. His multidisciplinary practice spans contemporary dance, ballet, jazz, hip-hop, African dance, theatre and choreography, with experience in South Africa, Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom.
Stanfield, originally from the United States and raised in South Africa, trained full-time with Jazzart from 2019 to 2022 before joining the professional company. Her practice draws on contemporary dance, hip-hop, heels and floor work, and she has performed and toured in South Africa, Rwanda, Pakistan and the United Kingdom.
Petersen, born and raised in Cape Town, trained in hip-hop before joining Jazzart’s three-year professional training programme in 2019. A dancer, choreographer, teacher, videographer and Jazzart alumnus, he brings a multidisciplinary perspective to Unveil and continues his creative collaboration with Stanfield through Gain Collective.
As Stanfield reflects: “If you’re in an institution that enables you to stretch beyond what you think you can do every day, it really does prepare you to enter into this world and this field, whether physically or in terms of your mindset.”
For Jazzart, the residency connects new artistic voices with new audiences while investing in the future of South African contemporary dance. Our Bodies Remember makes that investment visible on stage.