Wits Theatre is proud to present the internationally acclaimed Hominal / Xaba, a bold, arresting, and genre-defying choreographic work by Swiss choreographer Marie-Caroline Hominal and South African performing artist Nelisiwe Xaba.
Performed for two nights only on 10 and 11 December, this internationally heralded production brings two powerful artistic voices into dialogue: a meeting that is as playful as it is profound.
Premiered in 2019 and since performed across Switzerland, France, Belgium, South Africa, and Canada, Hominal / Xaba explores cultural appropriation, authorship, identity, embodied knowledge, and the digital age with sharp wit and visual poetry. As writer Arnaud Robert observes: “They weave a text on a reflective stage. In this fragile dialogue that only hangs by a thread, two women perform a choreography of appropriated cultures, online tutorials, and patterns reproduced by machines. The performance is a textile manifesto… funny and fearsome.”
Malcolm Purkey, Consulting Artistic Director at Wits Theatre, says:
“Hominal / Xaba is a work of rare intelligence and playful bravery. It stretches across continents and cultures, yet lands with an intimacy that is deeply human. Presenting this work at Wits is an honour and a gift to Johannesburg’s audiences.”
On stage, audiences encounter a vivid landscape of threads, textiles, and labyrinthine colour that unravels and re-weaves as the work unfolds. The duo, whose artistic paths first crossed as students at London’s Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance, draw from decades of connection, collaboration, and global touring. Their chemistry is unmistakable; their artistry world-class. What emerges is a work that is visually striking, mischievously subversive, and deeply resonant.
Hominal / Xaba forms part of the larger HOMINAL / XXX series, initiated in 2015 by Marie-Caroline Hominal as a research project into authorship and unexpected artistic pairings. The series examines transformation, appropriation, and the generative friction between artistic identities. Hominal and Xaba’s long-standing professional intersection culminated in this collaboration, first presented at Geneva’s La Bâtie Festival, and now considered a signature work in both artists’ repertoires.
At the heart of Hominal / Xaba is a creative team whose contributions shape the immersive world of the production. Hominal and Xaba co-create the choreography, performance, set design, and costumes, weaving movement and materiality into a singular visual language. The work features music by Vincent Bertholet, with technical direction by Jean-Pierre Potvliege and touring technician Solly Thaane.
This project is supported by Pro Helvetia Johannesburg, the Swiss Arts Council, and by the Embassy of Switzerland to South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and Namibia.
The original production was created through MadMoiselle MCH association – Geneva, with coproduction partnerships including Festival La Bâtie – Geneva, Kaserne Basel, and the support of Théâtre Vidy – Lausanne.
About the Artists
Hominal, based in Geneva, is one of Switzerland’s most celebrated contemporary choreographers, with a multidisciplinary practice spanning dance, theatre, performance art, and visual art. Her works, including Fly Girl, Ballet #1–#3, Parad/isiaque, Sugar Dance, Eurêka, c’est presque le titre, and multiple HOMINAL / XXX collaborations, have toured extensively across Europe, China, and the Americas.
Her accolades include the 2019 Swiss Dance Award (“Outstanding female dancer”) and the 2024 Prix culturel arts vivants, Fondation Vaudoise pour la Culture.
Nelisiwe Xaba, based in Johannesburg, is a pioneering South African choreographer and performer whose works interrogate power, feminism, representation, and embodied politics. Her globally toured pieces include Plasticization, They Look At Me and That’s All They Think, Uncles & Angels, Sakhozi Says “Non” to the Venus, Black!…White?, and Bang Bang Wo.
Xaba has performed at the Venice Biennale, Berliner Festspiele, Goodman Gallery, and numerous international festivals. She is the recipient of the FNB Art Prize (2013) and completed a Villa Albertine residency at The Met Museum, New York (2023
