As I reflect on the deeply immersive experience that was the Digital JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience, I feel overwhelmed and moved. For two weeks, I had an opportunity to prioritize South African contemporary dance and its boundless voice. I was virtually acquainted with the work of Vincent Mantsoe and challenged by my memory of what I knew to be South African contemporary dance with Musa Hlatswayo’s “Abomhlaba(thi)”.

Two years ago, I spent just shy of three weeks in Durban, South Africa. I’d been asked to co-facilitate a critical dance writing workshop in conjunction with the JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience. Veteran dance critic Adrienne Sichel conceived this workshop series and festival publication, called Khuluma (meaning “to speak” in isiZulu), more than a decade ago, which in recent years is directed by dance and theatre scholar Clare Craighead. Our five young writers, all honours students in the Performance Studies department at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (which houses the JOMBA!

What started out as a selfish endeavor turned into something wonderful: an all-inclusive training space with a collection of some of Chicago’s finest dance teachers and affordable pricing. The Chicago Movement Collective (CMC) may have been born out of necessity but has the potential to redefine a crucial part of the city’s arts scene. “The idea started back in March when COVID-19 first hit and studios were closing down,” CMC founder Ethan Kirschbaum said. “I lost a lot of work. I wondered how I was going to make up those lost classes. Basically, how do I cover my own ass?”

Like many of my fellow interdisciplinary artist colleagues, I planned and plotted for 2020 to be my year of clarity. This year was supposed to be marked by my most frequent international travel schedule and most varied creative skill development agenda. By March however, COVID-19 had wiped those "confirmed" 2020 plans clean off my calendar (Takeaway: ALWAYS buy travel insurance!).

It was twelve noon on Sunday, Sept. 6.

Senagalese choreographer/dancer and founder of the world renowned Ecole des Sables, Germaine Acogny has long been regarded as "the mother of contemporary African dance." As such, it is apropos that for her appearance on the JOMBA 2020 Legacy platform she presented her critically-acclaimed autobiographical solo dance theater work, "Somewhere at the Beginning."

For arts photographer Val Adamson, the trickiest part about this year’s JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience moving online has been watching the works without taking photos. Having photographed the festival since its first season 22 years ago, Adamson has been the one person responsible for creating these snapshot archives of the artists and their works. This year, the JOMBA! team decided to integrate photography in a different way: a virtual photo gallery, “Through The Lens,” with photos selected by Adamson and festival director Dr.

These days, live dance is hard to come by. Strict social distancing guidelines prohibit dancers from touching one another. Theaters are mostly shuttered and audience members must stay six feet apart—all challenging hurdles in putting a show together. Lawson Dance Theatre, in their first partnership The Rooted Space (a new North Center dance studio in the former Rast Ballet space) made an open-air effort with “Summer Shorts” Friday.