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 capacities. Our main partners are community dance groups, church groups, and organisations run by local youth activists.

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

School Dance Clubs

In September 2025 we launched our School Dance Clubs program. Five dance groups were established in primary schools in Atlantis. Trainers teach between 2 and 3 classes a week, 2 hours per class.

The objective is to share their passion for dance, teach dance technique and develop a new choreography which say about Atlantis life.

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

Hip Hop Encounters, January - April 2025

With the ambition of building links between Atlantis and Cape Town, we developed a festival and workshop series. Workshops are hosted by 3 world renowned Hip Hop creators, DJ Ready D, Lyrical Deezy and the Concrete Apostles. 8 workshops were held at Saxonsea Primary School, Saxonsea Community Hall and Rebecca van Amsterdam Hall in Atlantis. A 2 hour concert at Artscape National Theatre (Cape Town) on 5 April 2025, showcasing the results of the 8 workshops. The event involved 2 days of training for the groups in production and performing at a professional level. Work was presented by Atlantic All Stars, Movemakers Productions, Ingrid Beets Dance School, Dynamite Dance Crew, Dynamic Dancers, Young Diversity and Gevano Grainger as well as the new commissioned works by Lyrical Deezy (Elite Dance Studio) and the Concrete Apostles.

Showcase event, Hip Hop Encounters at Artscape, Cape Town, 4 April 2025, involving 10 dance crews and 92 dancers from Atlantis and Greater Cape Town. The event followed 3 months of workshops and mentorship in Atlantis with the likes international artists, DJ Ready D, Concrete Apostles and Lyrical Deezy.

Two years of training for Atlantis All Stars

Atlantis All Stars is a crew composed of 6 members. Between February 2022 and May 2024 the crew received training 3 days a week in Contemporary African dance, to develop their work levels and physicality and extend their dance language beyond the familiar idioms of Hip-Hop, Amapiano, GQOM and African Contemporary traditions. 3 new works were developed with trainer and choreographer, Mthetheleli Dlakavu.

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

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

Junior groups

During their training each of the Atlantis All Stars worked with 2 – 3 afternoons a week with a group of junior dancers from their neighbourhoods. In this way the project reached 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.