I posted a blog last year about a show Alfred had choreographed/directed that was one of the first performances by his newly formed company "Garage". I recently received a request to provide some more background on Alfred for students who have to study his work. There is some information on him on the internet which students can search for by typing in his name or looking back into the history of Jazzart Dance Theatre. Here is a little bit more information to get the wheels rolling! Firstly, it must be said that Alfred Hinkel, one of South Africa's leading choreographers, has made such an impact on dance in this country that his work is studied in both school and university level courses. It is not only his work as choreographer and director that has created so much food for thought and discussion, however. For years Alfred has worked on developing ways of training dancers who come from varied backgrounds and who often have started dancing late or have not had access to any kind of formal training. His methods themselves are influenced by a lifetime of trial and error and by interacting with other dance professionals and experiencing other dance training methods. One could say he really has been like a kind of scientist who has experimented with different methods to find solutions to various problems. The technique he is most associated with is the "Release Technique" where the goal is to release the joints and use natural movement pathways to develop a dance body that can move with ease and power.
Developing training methods in South Africa, a country so affected by its history and cultural diversity, is an essential as we are unlike any other "western" country. One cannot just superimpose a purely "western" training system here (such as Ballet or even some of the Contemporary dance techniques like Graham, Horton or Cunningham). Alfred's earliest dance teaching experiences were in areas such as Nababeep where he worked in the coloured communities with little resources. Later in his career, he encountered further barriers to traditional dance training methods when working towards a production called Abamanyani. This production included dancers from western traditional backgrounds and dancers/musicians from african dance backgrounds. Alfred had to find ways to work with these 2 diverse groups within one show, ways to warm their bodies up , strengthen and develop them and of course enable choreography that would suit their different styles and abilities. Although this stage was pivotal in the further development of his dance training methods he says he is still adapting his training as he works with new dancers in new ways. One things is for sure - what he does works!
Here are some basic facts about Alfred:
- He was born in 1953 in a small copper mining town outside Springbok, called Nababeep
- He began taking ballet classes at age 10 against his father's wishes (his father was an amateur boxer and this was an era in SA when men were not encouraged to dance)
- He enrolled at UCT initially for a Bachelor of Arts in Drama but found more than anything he wanted to dance.
- He later returned to UCT Ballet School to do his formal ballet training but was so disillusioned that he left in his second year.
- He returned to Nababeep where he taught dance in coloured townships.
- In 1976 he met Dawn Langdown and John Linden in Namaqualand, two dancers who were to become his lifelong friends and colleagues. Together they formed the Namaqualand Dans Geselskap and he created his first version of Bolero.
- Alfred and his company then joined Diane Sparks in Windhoek and together they created the Di-AL Dance Company - the first racially mixed company in Namibia.
- He later returned to Cape Town and eventually bought Jazzart.
- After many years as director of Jazzart he moved to Oukiep where he now runs his company from his studio at home, called Garage.