Deep Night

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PJ Sabbagha is a South African choreographer who’s name has become synonymous with issue based dance theatre and more specifically HIV and AIDS focused art.
The first performance of “Deep Night” took place on 3 December 2009 at the Newton Dance Factory (Johannesburg). The piece deals with the protests associated with World Aids Day, which is celebrated on 1 December. Centred on the realities of the HIV virus and AIDS, it expresses the experience of desire, intimacy and sexuality. For this work, the company voluntarily restricted the audience to the over 16s, a decision that the company Forgotten Angle – Theatre Collaborative (FATC) justified by “the implicit ambiguities of the show and the performance which could be misinterpreted by a young audience” [1].

To evoke lives affected by HIV or AIDS, PJ Sabbagha mixes audio-visual, dance and theatrical elements, in a stage set typical of Johannesburg’s night life: “A night club backdrop, ragged strings of lights, an atmosphere reminiscent of the golden era of musicals, where people come to show off, to face off, to attract attention and to see and be seen, couples, groups and the lonely and lovesick. In the courtyard and garden, there are screens showing abstract motifs of a street at night or the sequence shot of a city animated by the random movements of the passers-by. There are shadows full of dancers, moving from break dance to big, unbalancing movements and to lively and tender duets, like glittering stars illuminating the night. By way of a disturbing leitmotiv, an air gun makes skirts fly up and pierces the eardrums. A recurring fact in daily life, a key accessory on stage.” [2].

In “Deep Night”, PJ Sabbagha evokes the life of a young woman, full desires and imagination, which turns to tragedy. Dada Masilo, portraying a young teenager affected by the disease, performs a solo that is remarkable in its intensity. The Johannesburg choreographer concentrates on the dramatic impact of the experience of the disease, from a personal point of view: “HIV and Aids are critical personal and social issues, which permeate all levels of our individual and communal existence, whether we know it or not … This tiny, sophisticated virus permeates our minds, bodies and hearts, revealing the bleakest and most beautiful layers of our humanity.” [3] 

In 2010 and 2011, the piece was performed at dance festivals in Mali, Mozambique and Madagascar. The piece which followed it, entitled “One Night Stand”, was conceived in response to “Deep Night”: “There’s dialogue with “Deep Night”, but this one is not nightclubby at all. In our rehearsals we have spoken about how our lives are infected every day. About taking risks. How to transfer a thought. Infection doesn’t have to be biological, it can be conceptual.”[4] 

[1] Adrienne Sichel, “Night and day”, Tonight, 7 February 2012. http://www.iol.co.za/tonight/what-s-on/night-and-day-1.1229081#.UuE9zP1Eq-o: “Referring to the age restriction, which FATC has imposed on other pieces, [PJ] Sabbagha and [Tracey] Human are concerned about the implicit ambiguities in the performance and choreography which could be missed, or misconstrued, by young people.” 

[2] Danse l’Afrique danse! programme, Bamako (Mali), for “Deep Night”, 2010.

[3] PJ. Sabbagha, quoted in “New focuses on Aids”, www.joburg.org.za (official site of the city of Johannesburg), 2009, http://www.joburg.org.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4569&catid=211#ixzz2rEgNpCJJ

[4] PJ Sabbagha, quoted by A. Sichel, “Night and day”, Tonight, 7 February 2012. http://www.iol.co.za/tonight/what-s-on/night-and-day-1.1229081#.UuE9zP1Eq-o  

Programme extract

““Deep night” is a multimedia contemporary dance theatre work inspired by the presence of HIV and AIDS in all our lives. The work was originally created and presented to mark and celebrate World Aids Day 2009. HIV and AIDS are critical personal and social issues which permeate all levels of our individual and communal existence whether we know it or not. This tiny sophisticated virus permeates our minds, bodies and hearts, revealing the bleakest and most beautiful layers of our humanity.

Set against the backdrop of a night club exterior the images and sequences unravel revealing our desperate desire to belong and be loved. The work draws its impulse from that very “witching time of night” when the line between reality and fantasy becomes blurred. That time when we are overwhelmed by our desires and when our bodies are all consuming.

Sometimes gentle, sometimes irreverent, this challenging and provocative new work draws together bruising physicality and exciting imagery to weave together a dream like stream of consciousness on love, lust, longing and loneliness.” 

More information

“New focuses on Aids”, www.joburg.org.za (official site of the city of Johannesburg), 2009.
http://www.joburg.org.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4569&catid=211#ixzz2bGs5I4Ki

Mposula, Siyabonga, “Into the deep nights of Jozi”, http://www.journaids.org, 27 August 2010

Molebatsi Manzi, “Lessons of the Deep Night”, http://www.journaids.org, 27 August 2010 

Sassen, Rosslyn, “My View: Dance Umbrella: Deep Night”, http://www.artlink.co.za, 3 November 2010
http://www.artlink.co.za/news_article.htm?contentID=24126

Updating: February 2014