The programme opens with Unveil, choreographed by Chesney Stanfield and Emile Petersen, and is followed by Ancient Souls, choreographed by Lihle Mfene.

Unveil is an energetic and often frenetic work in which the dancers seem to bombard the world around them with movement, as though stillness itself were something to be resisted. Veiled figures push, punch and shove their way through invisible boundaries, fighting to preserve momentum and ward off inertia. Giant mirrors reflect the dancers as they grapple to free themselves from the forces that bind them. The veils symbolise the many layers that shield us from seeing ourselves clearly.

The dancers perform this work with dynamism, driven by an urgent need to keep moving, as though inertia itself were an enemy to be resisted. These are performers of considerable technical skill and extraordinary stamina. Throughout the work they continually raise the intensity of their movement, each phrase delivered with increasing force and urgency. Every muscle and sinew is enlisted in the task, propelling the body with precision and ever-mounting energy while negotiating the chains that bind and the gradual lifting of the veils that obscure. The effort is palpable. The power of the movement sequences enthrals, and it is impossible not to become caught up in the cascades of motion and emotion that sweep across the performance space. These bodies do not move because they can; they move because they must.