For the past six years, Mbulelo Ndabeni has been known to many as one of Rambert's dancers, and an enthusiastic choreography, regularly creating new works for Rambert's Seasons of New Choreography, their summer schools and other projects. The State In Between is a new collaboration between himself and Simone Muller Lotz, which will be developed into a longer work and presented in their native South Africa. The premiere of The State In Between will be on Saturday 16 November. Further details can be found here.

Mbulelo and Simone have worked together since the early days of their training back in South Africa, and they seized on this opportunity to work together again, and to create a new work for the two of them: Simone initially trained in Cape Town before moving to the UK to train at Elmhurst, the Royal Ballet Upper School and the Central School of Ballet, working with Ballet Central and Northern Ballet Theatre before returning to South Africa. Since coming back to England earlier this year as a freelance dancer, she has worked with Hubert Essakow and New Movement Collective and is currently working with Shobana Jeyasingh, alongside Avatâra Ayuso.

In the meantime, Mbulelo is also creating an all-female work for the next Rambert Season of New Choreography which will be held on 17 & 18 December, which is daunting him, but it'll certainly be an interesting challenge for him.

An interview and trailer are to follow, but in the meantime, enjoy some rehearsal photos of Mbulelo and Simone at Moving East...

 

Photos by Chantal Guevara