Very Real Time - FAR OUT Atlantis

FAR OUT - Atlantis

Construction of Atlantis, circa 1980, with Cape Town and Table Mountain on the horizon.

Since 2018, Very Real Time has been active in Atlantis, a town of roughly 70 000 inhabitants. Located 40 km north of Cape Town (2 hours by bus), Atlantis was built by the apartheid government in the 1980’s for people classified as ‘coloured’. The town is divided into five gang turfs, making it difficult for adolescents to finish school as they must cross opposing gang territories. They get drawn into gangs, or drop out of school to avoid them. Child pregnancy and violence against women are very high. Dance and music are strong elements in the culture.

We collaborate with and support existing community structures which protect youth from violence, help them finish high school and build their artistic and professional capacities. Our main partners are community dance groups, church groups, and organisations run by local youth activists.

The problem for all our collaborators is the lack of spaces to carry out their activities. For this reason, one of our central projects is the creation of a 580 m2 Youth Centre to provide a roof for these activities.

Caydee Lombard; 17 years old

Caithlin Daniels, 14 years old

Cineeq Goliath, 18 years old

Mattwin Stevens, 18 years old

Moegamat Fisher 18 years old

Skyler Adriaanse, 9 years

Lindell Diedericks, 24 years

Jayden Prins 14 years

Frédérico van Sitters 19 years

Justin Fortuin 20 years

Aden Daniels 16 years

Cineeq Goliath, 18 years old

Agresio Swartz, 17

Portrait series by Pieter Hugo, of dancers from SWAGG United Dance Crew, Atlantis, October 2020

Dance training and development of new works

Atlantis All Stars is a crew of senior dancers who form the core of our program. The crew is composed of 6 members, aged between 19 and 23 years of age, who we have been training since 2022, receiving training 3 days a week. The objective is to increase training to 5 days a week and for the group to reach a professional level over a 3 year program, during which they develop their individual style, comibining Hip-Hop, Amapiano, GQOM and African Contemporary traditions.

Atlantis All Stars, production : Dancing with Our Ancestors, a 45 minute African contemporary/Hip-Hop production, choreography by Mthetheleli Dlakavu

Key Activities

We provide the means for the creation of new dance productions. The main aim is to build professional skills and capacities, enabling the creation of community leaders and role models. Dancers receive salaries, equipment, studio space and mentorship. They also attend training on business management, leadership, project development and marketing through the National Youth Development Agency.

We arrange ongoing artistic collaborations with Cape Town-based artists. In 2020, a collaboration between the Swagg United Dance Crew and renowned photographer Pieter Hugo led to an article and commissioned video for Vogue Magazine, giving the group international visibility.

https://www.vogue.com/article/swagg-united-pieter-hugo-creativity-in-motion

A mentorship day with Cape Town-based, Sbo Ndaba Dance Company, 14 December 2022

African contemporary training with Mthetheleli Dlakavu at Saxonsea Community Hall

Choreographer and trainer, Mthetheleli Dlakava

Physical training with Mthetheleli

15 minute performance of Forgiving the Ancestors at Greenpoint Park, December 2023

15 minute performance of Forgiving the Ancestors at the Company Gardens, December 2023

My City Moves Competition, Cape Town, december 2023

Winners of the Shine Dance Challenge, Cape Town Castle, November 2023

Junior groups

Each of our 6 senior dancers works with 2 – 3 afternoons a week with a group of junior dancers from their neighbourhoods. They convey the knowledge and teaching skills which they learn from their trainers. In this way the project reaches a total of about 120 youth in Atlantis.

Caydee Lombaard, (Elevations Dance Crew) with juniors at Atlantis Municipal Hall, March 2023

Youth Centre and Dance studio

Since 2021 we have been developing a space to provide a shelter for dance and music groups, trauma counseling, gym, arts and crafts, life and business skills, music, a library, a vegetable garden and other related activities. Our main partners are youth activists Monique Hansen (Gunfree South Africa) and Michelle Fortuin (Xtreme Youth). The building has been designed by Tsai Design Studio (https://www.tsaidesignstudio.com). We are working with local government and (through The French Institute of South Africa) building partnerships in France. The land for this building is provided by a partnership with a local church situated in central Atlantis.

Aerial view, rendering for Atlantis Youth Centre, Tsai Design Studio, Cape Town

In South Africa under the apartheid government, distance was not only used as a means to separate race groups, but also a means to ensure that non-white adults expend vast amounts of time and energy moving to and from work, limiting their capacity to organise community bodies. The result was the development of gang culture and drug dealing as replacements for normal family life and reliable income.

https://www.instagram.com/far_out_atlantis/

Film and video work

Digital images and social media allow this project to reach a wider audience and raise attention as well as funds. In 2020, on of the Very Real Time directors made a portrait series and commissioned video for Vogue magazine. This was followed by a Crowdfund which raised 2000 euros of emergency Covid aid for the dancers in Atlantis. Very Real Time founder, Gregg Smith is at present working on a documentary film, entitled, She Carries Herself, which follows the core dancers over 3 years.