IN PICS | Just because we are disabled doesn't mean we can't dance

A Durban-based dancer is teaching disabled people to express themselves through the art form.

“For the longest time I've always seen narratives and heard stories of how disabled people don't have platforms in South Africa to express themselves, they're always excluded,” said Jarryd Watson, artistic director and founder of a Wentworth, Durban, arts and culture organisation.

“They don't have the same opportunities as able-bodied people. That's what I identified and asked myself how can I give back? What can I do to contribute to giving people with disabilities an opportunity to be recognised and heard? What better way than through dance?”

Watson has been a dancer for more than two decades, having entered the scene as a 15-year-old.

To spread his passion for the art within the wider Wentworth and surrounding communities, he founded his organisation in 2007 and a group called Dance Movement.

“What we deal with is dance, arts and culture. We do community development, disabled training, outreach youth programmes and professional programmes to capacitate emerging talent in the arts industry to get work,” he said.

In 2015, after a trip to Europe exposed him to how universal and inclusive dance can be, Watson was prompted to implement inclusivity at home. That’s how the “special needs disabled training development programme” began.

“When I was in Switzerland in 2015, I had the opportunity to be exposed to Jag Koch, who runs a disability company in Europe. I trained with him for about three months and when I came back to South Africa I started reaching out to people living with disabilities to give them opportunities in dance, drama, arts administration and the knowledge to get into the industry.”

For Watson, teaching disabled people includes studying an individual's type of disability and finding a dance style they are comfortable with.

“One has to always get an in-depth understanding of the person's disability to make it easier for them in training sessions,” he said.

One of Watson's charges is Siphamandla Sithole, from Umlazi, whose leg was amputated after a hit-and-run accident in 2021.

“I am teaching him amapiano and street styles. I felt they would be the best way to showcase his skill because before his accident, that was the type of dancer he was. He used to do amapiano and pantsula,” said Watson.

“His left leg is amputated from the knee down, his crutches are used for his balance and stability, but I have trained (him) how to transfer and balance his weight onto his crutches and right leg and recently we have mastered him performing without his crutches, standing on one leg.

“The styles I teach to wheelchair-bound dancers are hip-hop and contemporary They don't have the use of their legs, so both styles require a lot of movement in the upper torso and their arms, which they have the ability to do,” he said.

Sithole's setback has done little to diminish his quiet but jovial nature and you can find him showcasing his dance talent at the corner of South Coast and Blamey roads in Clairwood, where he is a beggar. This to supplement his disability grant and his grandparents’ pensions after he lost his leg and because of this, his job, he said.

“Dancing has always been my passion, it’s how I express myself. I was dancing with a group called Umlazi Groovies before my injury.”

Watson's programme has grown in leaps and bounds, and includes 20 blind dancers, 12 in wheelchairs, as well as amputees and some on crutches.

On November 27 his dancers showcased their skills at the first Durban Inclusivity Festival.

“Performing on Sunday showed people that losing a part of your body does not mean your life is over, life goes on. There is a lot I can still do, like dancing, so it’s not the end of the world,” said Sithole.

“Dancing is the only way I can feel free and normal again. In those few hours I de-stress and forget the problems of the outside world,” he added.

Others in Watson's fold are Bheki Khotsholo and his wife Pinky, who are wheelchair-bound because of spinal infections.

“For people like us, there are not many sports we can participate in, so we were very grateful,” said Bheki.

He said the inclusivity festival gave them hope for a better future because they sometimes felt “forgotten” by the sports and entertainment industries.

“Jarryd has given us a platform most people didn’t think of. Most people think dancing requires you to use your feet, but we do the foot movements able-bodied people do with our hands,” he said.

Watson also used the festival, which took place during the 16 days of activism campaign, to raise awareness about gender-based violence.

He bemoaned the difficulties artistic practitioners and organisations face funding such projects.

“Finance is always a problem. With programmes like this we need a lot of finances and funding to sustain it and create the impact and the growth, and to contribute to social development, social cohesion and even GDP because it also provides jobs and skills.

“We hope that in the near future we can get the support we need so we can make more of an impact and have more reach demographically.”

* December 3 is International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

TimesLIVE

Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.