Via Sophiatown

Documentary on the musical ‘Via Sophiatown’ by Compagnie Via Katlehong, in which the collective pays homage to Johannesburg’s old district ‘Sophiatown’, known for the turmoil it witnessed during apartheid.

The initial idea of this show is to bear witness to and shed light upon the infamous Sophiatown era in the 1950s. 

Sophiatown was a district of Johannesburg that was destroyed in 1955. It was a multiracial area, the birthplace of many different musical and dance styles. It was also the place where the fight against apartheid first began, and is still today the symbol of artists’ commitment. 

With now internationally-famous South African music such as hits by Dorothy Masuka or Miriam Makeba, the show presents couples dancing the tsaba-tsaba or the kofifi, the ancestor of pantsula. Accompanied by two jazz musicians, the dancers allow us to relive this strong period in African culture – the era of ‘happy Africa’. 

With the destruction of Sophiatown, Father Huddleston lamented that: “Sophiatown has finally been struck off the map, its population dispersed; I feel that South Africa has not only lost a place, but also an ideal.” 

Even when government bulldozers razed the houses, Sophiatown would generate a cultural buzz unequalled in the urban history of South Africa. Even as just a memory, Sophiatown is a symbol, a legendary reference for black writers and artists. 

Today, many seek the artistic spirit once created in this legendary district. 

Source : Via Katlehong