My Reflections from 2019 Cape Town
by Tanicha
The writing piece was my favorite because we could all express our personal problems and thoughts on what was happening around us and in our communities. I knew that most of us were afraid and didn’t want to come out of our shells because we did not feel comfortable around people we did not know. But in the end, we all just started speaking to each other and became friends. It’s like we didn’t care about what other people might think but what we thought about ourselves. The rehearsals were great because while we were rehearsing we came up with new ideas on how to make the performance even better, to make sure that the audience would not get distracted or bored, but to grab their attention. The rehearsals were tiring and all we wanted to do was sleep or relax, but we couldn’t because we had to make every moment of our performance count.
The Ensemble-Building exercises we did with O.J. were interesting and exciting because we had fun but at the same time learned that it’s not just about doing something for the sake of doing it, but it’s about having fun while creating a unified team. The Cultural Night that we had was interesting because we learned different types of traditions and cultures we have in South Africa and in Brazil. Maria, one of our fellow artists, was an exchange student from Brazil. We all had so many questions and wanted to know more about all the traditions and cultures surrounding us – isiZulu, Muslim, Christian, Brazilian, Jewish, isiXhosa. I realized that there are so many other traditions and cultures that are also important and some that I never knew existed.
We did a fantastic job on the performance. We had one day to rehearse and practice our lines, but we did not do it all alone because we had help from Fran, Dannie, Andrea, and Jesse. Andrea helped us with the pronunciation of our words and how to project our voices. Jesse taught us choreography that would not only entertain the audience but for us to enjoy on stage. Fran allowed us to feel comfortable on stage. She told each and every one of us to not be afraid or nervous but to focus on one place and know that it is okay to forget one line because all you have to do is believe in yourself and remember that the show must go on.
After the performance, the audience asked us questions about how we will make a difference and how we will benefit from the program? We answered and said that we will make copies of the performance and we have a website that they can visit to find out more information about the who, what and why of Breaking Walls.
India, Tanicha, Lindo, and Ndimphwe during rehearsal.