We Wear Our Wheels with Pride – Southbank Centre | Review

As part of Dance Reflections, the Southbank Centre’s celebration of dance, renowned South African choreographer Robin Orlin has brought to London, We Wear Our Wheels with Pride or to give it its full title (big breath) We wear our wheels with pride and slap your streets with color… We said ‘bonjour’ to satan in 1820 an homage to the rickshaw drivers of South Africa’s past. There in the 1970s, at the height of apartheid, white masters were transported from place to place by Zulu men pulling brightly coloured rickshaws, a feat requiring a mixture of great strength and dexterity. Watching them, the young Orlin observed the ornate decoration of their vehicles and headdresses, as well as their sprightly, dance-like steps and now she’s used those memories to devise her latest work.

On a dark, bare stage a group of performers walk on in a wedge-shaped formation slowly out of the dark. There looks like there are seven of them but as they break apart, there’s a tiny figure hiding behind them who bursts into song and after some playfulness with the sound technician from one of the dancers, the performance begins.

There are six dancers from Zulu inspired dance company Moving Into Dance Mophatong, Sunnyboy Motau, Oscar Buthelezi, Eugene Mashiane, Lesego Dihemo, Sbusiso Gumede and Teboho Letele. The seventh member of the group is musician/composer Yogin Sullaphen who plays various instruments during the piece including guitars, percussion and various drum loops. The dancers then proceed to tell the story in interpretive dance of the rickshaw drivers with sometimes tiny, sprightly steps echoing those of the drivers. They also wear bright costumes and large animal headdresses similar to those worn by the drivers. They address the audience and there’s a lot of audience participation with handclapping, call and response, moving backwards and forward in our seats and dancing. The dancers are excellent lithe and athletic and throw themselves about the stage but the standout is the tiny framed eight member of the troupe, the amazing voice of singer/musician Anelisa Stuurman aka Annalyzer whose vocal range goes from quiet, African sounds in the Khoisan tradition to full blown operatic tones and is quite mesmerising at times.

The other major element of We Wear Our Wheels with Pride are the video projections from Eric Perroys. Using an overhead camera and various others around the stage including iPhones, the images are projected on an enormous screen on the back wall. Combining the dancers with an often psychedelic light show (took me back to seeing Pink Floyd in the seventies) it was quite hypnotic. Each dancer would go towards one of the cameras, lay part of their colourful costume on the ground and this would be the backdrop to their solo. This along with the kaleidoscopic like on-screen effects did get a little repetitive but it gave each individual dancer the spotlight and contrasted to the ensemble work that had gone before.

The piece ended with a short video of some actual rickshaw drivers and helped give We Wear Our Wheels with Pride some context. It’s a joyful, joyous colourful piece of dance theatre and you can’t fail to leave the auditorium with a spring in your step even if you might be a little tired from all the clapping, dancing and singing you’ve been doing.

Review by Alan Fitter

Leading South African choreographer Robyn Orlin with the Moving Into Dance Mophatong ensemble from Johannesburg share an explosive array of dance, song and costume with their ‘rickshaw dance’, We Wear Our Wheels with Pride, as part of the Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels Festival. This UK premiere is a homage to the rickshaw drivers of South Africa’s past. In South Africa of the 1970s, at the height of apartheid, white masters were transported from place to place by Zulu men pulling brightly coloured rickshaws, a feat requiring a mixture of great strength and dexterity. Watching them, the young Robyn Orlin observed the ornate decoration of their vehicles and headdresses, as well as their sprightly, dance-like steps. The period also coincides with the creation of Moving into Dance Mophatong, a company nourished by Zulu traditions and a flagship for contemporary dance in South Africa. Audiences can expect vibrant costumes and visceral movement alongside a live performance of breathtaking singing from Anelia Stuurman in collaboration with the composer, Yogin Sullaphen.

WE WEAR OUR WHEELS WITH PRIDE
Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre
Friday 21 and Saturday 22 March 2025