Dimpho di Kopane
Dimpho di Kopane is a South African theatre cooperative.
Also found as Dimpho di Kopane Lyric Theatre Company or referred to by its acronym, DDK
Originally known as South African Academy of the Performing Arts.
Contents
The company
In 1999, Charles Hazlewood and Mark Dornford-May were invited to create a new opera company in Cape Town. After auditioning in the townships and villages of South Africa, the mostly black lyric-theatre company DDK (Dimpho di Kopane – Sotho for “combined talents”) was formed in 2000. Of the 40 members chosen then, only three had professional training as opera singers.
Productions
In January 2001, the company made its debut with Bizet’s Carmen (as U-Carmen) at the Spier Amphitheatre, Stellenbosch. They later also co-produced the film version, U-Carmen eKhayelitsha (as Spier Films).
The produced a South Africanised production of The Beggar's Opera in Cape Town and London in 2002.
In 2004, they staged two works in New York: Ikumkanikazi yeKhephu, a Xhosa-adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen, and their 2001 work, The Mysteries – Yiimimangaliso, based on series medieval Bible plays.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimpho_di_Kopane
https://www.charleshazlewood.com/ucarmen
Ivan Meredith. 2006. 'Opera in South Africa during the first democratic decade'. Unpublished Masters thesis. University of Cape Town.
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