Constellations At Spier: Guardians Revealed

Name: Celéste Erasmus
Price range: $

NOVEMBER 24, 2020

Starting 26 November, this event takes several small groups of guests on an outdoor trail through the enchanting, wild parts of the farm after dark. The groups rotate amongst a sequence of three campfires on the path. These are the 27 hosts: a different selection of 9 will perform each evening. Guests will spend about 40 minutes with 3 of the Guardians, but which 3 is the mystery...

	CASPARO BROWN Casparo is the living example of a modern day wild thriver. Apart from teaching and consulting in Permaculture he also runs a company called ‘The Wandering Wild School’, facilitating journeys into pristine wilderness, teaching people how to live with very little. He spends most of his free time in the wilds immersing in pre-historic earth skills as a path to journey deeper into the mysteries of being a Homo Sapien earth dweller.
CHUMA SOPOTELA Chuma is an actor, director, choreographer and performance artist. She has won several acting awards, and was the Standard Bank Young Artist for Performance Art in 2018. Her many collaborators include Calvin Ratladi, Mwenya Kabwe, Kemang Wa-lehulere and Michelle Collis. Her stage credits include ‘Karoo Moose’, ‘Waiting for the Barbarians’, and her solo work ‘UHAYI’.
	DANIEL JARDIM Daniel is a mindfulness-based counsellor interested in current trends in wellness and what they tell us about the cultural landscape we live in. He has spent many years teaching retreats around South Africa with a strong emphasis on seasonal living and finding ways of infusing everyday life with greater meaning. Daniel conducts a number of online programs on cultivating both compassion and personal discernment in uncertain times, as well as running The Mountain Sanctuary in the Bains Kloof nature reserve — a solitary space for individual and personalised retreats that offer meditation instruction, counselling, chi kung (qigong) and nutritional medicine.
DAVID TOMSU David has worked with sound as a healing modality for 30 years, and has been in ceremony with various indigenous global cultures. He runs circles and workshops with creative soul embodiment practices, and plays live at venues and functions with his fusion of indigenous instruments, some of which he builds himself. He’s worked as a storyteller and performance artist for 20 years. He works with these modalities privately and in the corporate world. www.breathharmonics.weebly.com
	DEIRDRE PRINS-SOLANI Deirdre is completing an MPhil in Southern Urbanism through the African Centre for Cities, University of Cape Town. She believes that once ‘see-ing’ the ghosts of a colonial and apartheid past – we cannot un-see them, but are called to work towards spatial justice. Her research focus is exploring ways of making memoryscapes a counter-colonial strategy.
DIZU PLAAITJIES Dizu, a neo-traditional African musician, is head of African Music: Practical Studies at the University of Cape Town’s South African College of Music. He is the founder and former leader of Langa marimba group Amampondo, which put traditional South African music on the international map in the 1980s, and a College of Music alumnus. On leaving Amampondo, he started a new ensemble, Ibuyambo, with which he has toured the world for the past decade. He and Ibuyambo are the recipients of two South African Music Awards (SAMAs), for the albums African Kings and Ubuntu – The Common String.
	GARY THOMAS Originating from Cape Town, Gary was classically-trained in school and later studied Jazz at university. His unique style blends rich, moody song writing with a vast array of alternative guitar techniques and precision multi- tasking. In conjunction with countless South African shows and festivals, the last couple of years have included sell out runs at The National Arts Festival in Makhanda, touring with Ninja Tunes artist Fink in SA, full endorsements from Ernie Ball and Proel and a European Tour in 2012. Gary completed his second 30-show European tour through The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Spain, France, Denmark and England between May and July 2016. He won an Ovation Award at the 2018 National Arts Festival in Makhanda for his series of live solo performances. Gary releases regular music under the artist name Moodship and also creates musical scores and sound design for documentary, film, TV etc. Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channe...
JEMMA KAHN Jemma is a theatre-maker, writer and video artist based in Cape Town. She has performed her unique style of visual theatre both internationally and abroad, garnering numerous awards. Her writing credits include the theatre productions ‘Cellist with Rabies’ (2019) and ‘The Borrow Pit’ (2018), the latter of which was her production as the Standard Bank Young Artist for Theatre in that year. Other theatre credits include ‘The Epicene Butcher and Other Stories for Consenting Adults’ (2012), ‘We Didn’t Come to Hell for the Croissants’ (2015) and ‘in bocca al lupo’ (2016). Her short video works are often exhibited as part of group shows, and viewings can be arranged upon request. Photo credit: Robert Hamblin www.jemmakahn.com
	JETHRO LOUW Jethro – Aka Kerneels Persoon, Tanneman \|Xam or the Plakkerskamp Poet - is a storyteller, visual artist, indigenous music improviser, instrument maker (crafter), First Nation indigenous tour guide and community activist. He writes and performs his unique brand of rural/urban spoken word in Ghoema Afrikaans and in common English. Born on the banks of the Leeu-Gamka river near Beaufort West in the Karoo, Jethro is a founding member of the Khoi Khonnexion band project, consisting of himself, Garth Erasmus and Glen Arendse. Focusing on the music of the bushman bow, the band has performed and collaborated on various platforms locally and internationally. They have participated in the National Arts Festival in Makhanda and in the Afrikaans KKNK Festival in Oudtshoorn. Jethro has collaborated with various artists over the years, including the Khoi Khollective and The Black Rose Orchestra. http://www.populojazz.com/
JITSVINGER Jitsvinger is an established Cape Flats-born conceptual writer, composer, guitarist, educator, musician, poet and performing artist. After the success of his debut album, ‘Skeletsleutel’, Jitsvinger has collaborated with classical musicians, jazz nominees, pioneers and legends, and has performed on stages and festivals both locally in his home country of South Africa and internationally including Taiwan, France, The Netherlands, Switzerland and Chile. He has composed and written music for theatre productions and film. Jitsvinger is a social commentator on issues concerning heritage, culture, and especially the Afrikaans language. www.jitsvigner.co.za
	JUTTA HOLZAPFEL Jutta formed 'TrueFiction' in 1988 in the Netherlands, with the intent of creating unique performances staged in outlandish locations. Passionate about Performance Art, her core interest lies with site specific works and urban interventions as means to honour, enliven, transform and reclaim urban spaces. In her private Wellness Practice she is privileged to walk alongside individuals on their journey towards wellbeing. She is curious about our inner and outer landscapes and how they correlate with one another. In her work she aims to balance body, mind, heart and essence towards the integration and unfolding of all our elements. An awareness of transgenerational wounding and collective trauma led her to explore various fields: Creative Expression, Sweat Lodge Ceremony; Specialised Kinesiology; the healing capacity of Nature; Systemic Constellations; most recently training as an End of Life Companion. Knowing that we can live in good relation with ourselves, each other, the Earth and the Sacred – permeates her being and work. www.breathingroom.co.za / www.behance.net/jutta
LUCY CAMPBELL Lucy’s interest is in uncovering stories of people who pride themselves on the richness of their environment, heritage and culture. She makes no apologies for rejecting the authorised grand narrative and telling real stories which have been untold for centuries as a form of resistance. She believes that people don’t believe these stories have power, but questions how we can really celebrate who we are, how we have changed or what we collectively can become, unless we go to the source? Lucy is a !Xam, KHOE womyn, local descendant of the first indigenous peoples and later the enslaved fore-bearers on whose backs the phenomenal wealth of this land was built. This knowledge provides her with clarity about her humanity, identity and the mission that defines her world view. And the affirmation that her people have the agency to tell their own story of dispossession and the determination to claim their identity.
	LUNGISWA PLAATJIES Lungiswa was born and raised in Langa, where her musical training began during childhood. She started singing at the tender age of 8 as the lead vocalist of Amampondo, gaining first hand expertise from Dizu Plaatjies, her brother. As a multi-instrumentalist, Lungiswa plays mbira, marimbas, djembe, kayomba, uhadi and umrhubhe as well as showcasing her natural singing skills. Having toured extensively through South Africa, the Far East, Europe, USA, UK and Canada, she released a series of solo albums: ‘Lungiswa (Ekhaya)’, ‘Mamelani’ and ‘Ndiyahamba’. She has been nominated for various SAMA and KORA awards and worked with composer Neo Mayunga on two of his operas – ‘The Flower of Shembe’ and ‘The Heart of Redness’.
MALIKA NDLOVU Malika‘s words and productions have appeared on pages and stages across South Africa, in Austria, Uganda, USA, UK, Holland, Ireland, Germany, Spain, Ethiopia, India and the Philippines. As a poet, playwright, performer and arts administrator Malika’s contribution to South African arts and culture, via writing groups, workshops , festivals and mentorship spans over 20 years. Since 2007 she was project manager, guest curator and presenter of the Africa Centre’s Badilisha Poetry X-Change and later BadilishaPoetry.com the first ever Africa - focused poetry podcasting platform. As a founder-member of Cape Town-based women writers' collective WEAVE (1998 – 2004), she co-edited WEAVE’s ‘Ink @ Boiling Point: A selection of 21st Century Black Women’s Writing from the Southern Tip of Africa’. In 2004 she initiated ‘And The Word Was Woman Ensemble’. Her poetry collections include ‘Born in Africa But’, ‘Womb to World: A Labour of Love’, ‘Truth is both Spirit and Flesh’, ‘Invisible Earthquake: a Woman’s Journal through Stillbirth’, ‘CLOSE’. Her published plays are ‘A Coloured Place’ and ‘Sister Breyani’. She features prominently in ‘Our Words, Our Worlds: Writing on Black South African Women Poets, 2000 – 2018’. Photo credit: Dirk Skiba
	MATTHEW CANNON As ‘landofmilk’, Matthew Cannon writes and performs unconventional mbira songs – from roots to loops. He has lived in various parts of the world and worked as a journalist, retail manager, farmhand, teacher and complementary health researcher. His interests include psychology, art and vintage corduroy jackets. www.facebook.com/landofmilkmbi...
MMATSHILO MOTSEI Mmatshilo, a poet, and a former nursing lecturer, social science researcher and psychology graduate, worked for over 10 years as a community development specialist, a counsellor and gender consultant for public and private institutions in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Somalia as well as Europe, USA, Canada and Australia. It is in this regard that Motsei earned a reputation as a global change agent, particularly in the field of gender violence and HIV/AIDS prevention. As a result of her work, she has received numerous local and international awards including the United Nations Habitat Award 2000. She founded the Asiganang Domestic Abuse Prevention and Training (ADAPT) programme in Alexander Township, Johannesburg. Motsei established Senakangwedi Consulting, a company specialising in personal and societal transformation using spiritual principles.
	NADIA KHAN KIMMIE Nadia is a grandmother, a mother, a sister, a daughter, an activist, sage, empath, medicine woman, lover, creator. She is an international practitioner of family constellations, restorative yoga, and earth medicine such as Vision Quest, Sweatlodge. She is currently training in TRE (Trauma Release Exercise) and Aural acupuncture. She often incorporates clay and sound into her workshops. Her work is about inspiring people to see with their hearts and to heal their ancestral trauma so as to live life fully.
NKOSENATHI ERNIE KOELA (MNTANA.WEXHWELE) Nkosenathi is a Ph.D candidate specializing in indigenous music therapies at the University of Cape Town. Using interdisciplinary practice encompassing being an Afrikan multi-instrumentalist, instrument maker, composer, writer, poet, playwright, director, singer, academic and dancer; Nkosenathi creates textures of music embedded in Afrikan spirituality. Through his work he is creating an intersectional and inter-disciplinary indigenous museum that locates sound and movement practice in Afrika as a material space of healing that functions to serve and inform its community. Nkosenathi has performed across the continent and internationally. He released his first solo ‘Inkaba’ an Afro-Spiritual collection of dream and soundscapes (2018). He has performed extensively locally and internationally. Alongside playing instruments he also teaches others how to play traditional instruments. In this, teaching others about the instruments h’story, spiritual significance and importance. This he does as testament to his ancestry, the long line/s of traditional instrumentalists, diviners/ healers (amaGqirha namaXhwele) that run in his family, who are in their own right, masters of traditional San, Bantu and Nguni music/heritage.
	NOMAPOSTILE NYIKI Nomapostile completed her Performer's Diploma in African Music in 2014, from the University of Cape Town. She studied various subjects relating to diverse aspects of culture, indigenous African instruments, African music history, African music theory, world music, African oral performance and practical performance in African dance, indigenous instrument and vocals. She is a singer, dancer, composer and poet, and specializes in various African instruments such as the uhadi, umrhube, nyungwe-nyungwe, kundi harp, percussion, xylophones and many more. She has had numerous invitations to perform on both local and international stages. www.ancientvoices.co.za
PHILIPPA KABALI-KAGWA Philippa is a storyteller, poet, author, and holder of space. She is co-founder and host of The Story Club Cape Town and Balisa Nathi Storytelling Collective. She performs poetry, folktales and personal stories at festivals, conferences, schools, organisations and open-mics. She uses story, poetry and song to activate spaces, to comment, question, teach, invite and to create community. Her platforms open up opportunities for both artists and the public to share stories, connect and collaborate, and through that to create community. She is the author of ‘Flame and Song: a memoir’, ‘Katiiti’s Song’, ‘Kea goes to school’, ‘Mkhulu and me’ and ‘Tyres and Tubes’, and a number of poems in various publications. She teaches and coaches storytelling, and in her work with individuals and organisations she facilitate processes where they can reflect on their journeys, have difficult conversations and dream new possibilities.
	REHANE ABRAHAMS Rehane is a performer, writer and theatremaker. With an M.A. from UCT, her training includes Butoh and Classical Javanese dance as well as Kathak and Pole dancing. Her most recent work, Womb of Fire, which she wrote, co-conceived and performed was the recipient of two Fleur Du Cap Awards, three Woordtrofees and numerous nominations. The focus of Rehane’s theatremaking has been on somatic decolonisation and re-membering Slave and Indigenous ancestral lineages through performance practice. She is director and co-founder of The Mothertongue Project, the first all women art’s collective in the Western Cape. Founded in 2000, the project exists to promote the wellbeing of those most excluded, and have identified womxn and youth as groups consistently disempowered and silenced in society. On TV, Rehane can currently be seen on Kyk-net en Kie’s telenovela, Arendsvlei where she plays the antagonist, Wendy Newman.
ROB VAN VUUREN Rob van Vuuren is a multi-award winning actor, comedian, director, writer and voice over artist. He is equally at home on stage as he is on a film set, in a comedy club or around a camp fire. Rob will be sharing his particular comedic insights into how we struggle to meaningfully acknowledge our collective trauma as well as his distaste for motivational speakers in this intimate fireside anti-motivational motivational speech.
	SEAN O’CONNOR Sean makes theatre and film in working communities. He is a podcast host, writer, improvising performer, educator and father, who provides end-of-life support to people as a death doulah.
TAPIWA GUZHA Tapiwa is a generalist and a dabbler who pursues a bit of everything in the quest for happiness. He facilitates experiences that are restorative to the ego and is interested in platonic intimacy and how it shapes our existences.
	TINA SCHOUW Tina is a singer/guitarist, writer and healer. Her songwriting draws from an eclectic blend of musical styles, which include jazz, folk, pop and Brazilian all of which reflect her versatility as an artist. During 1987 to 1990 she was invited abroad by various anti-Apartheid movements to perform her original material, which was steeped in socio-political commentary. In 1994 her songwriting took a more personal turn focusing on her reflections of love, life, healing and humanity. She is a cultural warrior and believes that her role as an artist in society should reflect what’s happening in the world, in order to help people address and engage with societal issues that need consideration and action. She believes that music is a tool gifted to artists to bring light into the world. She aims through her writing and music to be a mirror that heals and inspires others to see themselves. Photo credit: Gerda Genis
TONI GISELLE STUART Toni is a poet, performer and spoken word educator, whose work re-imagines and retells historical narratives in order to bring about healing. Works include ‘Krotoa-Eva’s Suite – a cape jazz poem in three movements’ in collaboration with filmmaker Kurt Orderson (Amsterdam and Cape Town, 2016); ‘Poetry, Paramedics and Film’ with filmmaker/health researcher Leanne Brady (2018); ‘I Come To My Body As A Question’ with dotdotdot dance (UK & Sweden, 2016 - 2020); and ‘What the Water Remembers’ at Woordfees (2020). She is a Mail & Guardian Top 200 Young South African of 2013, and has an MA Writer/Teacher (Distinction) from Goldsmiths, University of London, where she was a 2014/2015 Chevening Scholar. She was the founding curator of Poetica, at Open Book Festival. Photo credit: Amaal Said www.tonistuart.com/
	WESSEL PRETORIUS Wessel is an actor, writer and theatre-maker based in Cape Town. He wrote, directed and performed his solo piece Ont- to much acclaim and travelled internationally with the translated version Undone, winning the Standard Bank Ovation: Gold at National Arts Festival Fringe (2014). Pretorius mostly works within the Afrikaans Festival circuit, having created pieces like Klara Maas Se Hart is Gebreek, Die Vloeistof Trilogie, Die Ontelbare 48 and Die Dag is Bros. As actor he has performed in Balbesit (directed by Jaco Bouwer), Wie’s Bang vir Virginia Woolf? (directed by Christiaan Olwagen) , Bloed en Rose (directed by Marthinus Basson and Twelth Night (directed by Geoffrey Hyland). Wessel’s work blends comedy, pathos, storytelling and more often than not, confetti, to marry poetry to the mundane.