Hillbrowfication

21 children and young people from Hillbrow, a district of Johannesburg, outline possible and impossible scenarios for the future of their district and its inhabitants. Hillbrow, originally planned as a model development, is now infamous for its poverty and corruption. On stage the performers dance scenes about »the Hillbrow of the future«. What might a life together in the district look like in an ideal future? We see utopias and dystopias of ghettoisation and gentrification. Aliens land on earth and establish a new social hierarchy where good dancers call the shots. A revolutionary princess with an endless name has the gift of shifting the parameters of space and time. People have learned to levitate off the ground instead of struggling with broken elevators. They deal with the racism and violence they experience daily and subvert stereotypical narratives. The work, created under the guidance of choreographer Constanza Macras, fascinates due to the infectious energy of its performers and humorously challenges our view of how the world operates. 

Produced by Constanza Macras | Dorkypark and Outreach Foundation’s Hillbrow Theatre Project.