Choreographer Janine Booysens presents “Convergence” at the first-ever ACDC Duet Xchange happening 22 – 23 May at The Star Theatre and shows just why watching this will make you move…
There’s a quiet warmth about Janine Booysens that immediately puts you at ease. Spend five minutes speaking to her and you understand very quickly why generations of young dancers gravitate towards her. There is no pretence nor ego. Just honesty, curiosity, and a genuine love for movement and people.
Now preparing to present Convergence at the inaugural ACDC Duet Xchange: The Art of Duet – 22 & 23 May at The Star Theatre, Homecoming Centre – Booysens arrives not only as an accomplished choreographer and educator, but as someone deeply invested in making contemporary dance feel accessible, emotionally resonant and human.
And “human” is the thread that runs through everything she creates.
“Contemporary dance allows us to be human,” she tells me during our conversation. It’s a simple statement, but one that stayed with me long after the interview ended. Booysens grew up in Bridgetown, where she first discovered ballet at the age of seven at Bridgeville Primary School. Unlike many dancers whose artistic journeys begin with ambitious parents, this one started entirely with her own curiosity.
“It was all me,” she laughs. “I was intrigued with ballet and because that was the only form available at school.”
As she grew older, however, something shifted. The structure and rigidity of classical ballet slowly gave way to a growing fascination with modern and contemporary movement. At Eoan Group she discovered modern dance, and later, contemporary through evening classes at Jazzart Dance Theatre, finding herself immersed in a world that felt freer, more layered and emotionally connected. “It was flowy,” she says. “I just felt at ease. I felt at peace.”
What struck me most listening to her story, was how many people opened doors along the way, each time she reached a particular milestone and asked herself, “and now what?” Teachers who noticed potential. Mentors who offered opportunities. Institutions that made space. Alfred Hinkel offering her a place in the Jazzart training programme. Bursaries that carried her through studies at University of Cape Town. Lecturers and choreographers who simply said: come teach, come create, come stay in this industry.
And then there were her parents. In an industry where so many young artists still speak about resistance from family members worried about financial survival, Booysens tells a very different story.
“My dad loved dance. He didn’t care what I did as long as I was moving and dancing,” she says. You can hear the gratitude in her voice when she speaks about him fetching her late at night after rehearsals and performances, cheering her on without question, even stretching with her in the family lounge at home. The support from both parents clearly mattered.
Today, Booysens has spent more than 15 years teaching dance, including at UCT, where one of her students a few years ago, happened to be a young Brazilian dancer named Anderson Carvalho.
Yes – that Anderson Carvalho. The same Anderson now curating ACDC Duet Xchange.
There is something rather beautiful about that full-circle moment. “He was very humble,” she says. “Very talented.”
Years later, the former student has invited his former teacher to present work at the first edition of the platform. And the work she is bringing feels deeply aligned with the spirit of the event itself.
Booysens’s Convergence is a collection of four contemporary dance duets exploring human connection through movement. But these are not abstract concepts floating somewhere above an audience’s head. They are recognisable emotional spaces: attraction, fragility, support, friendship, trust, dependence, identity.
One duet explores two bodies drawn to one another but unable to touch. Another follows a woman finding strength through the support of an unseen presence. A third investigates mirroring and playful companionship, while Depth of Dialogue – perhaps the most tender of the four – centres on two men navigating emotional kinship and trust through movement rather than words.
Importantly, Booysens doesn’t create work simply to impress dancers. She wants audiences to feel something. “I want to sit there and feel it,” she says when speaking about both choreography and judging. “Not just beautiful technique. I want to feel something.”
That feels particularly important at a time when contemporary dance can sometimes feel intimidating or inaccessible to wider audiences. During our conversation, we spoke at length about the need to broaden audiences beyond the dance community itself.
Why shouldn’t contemporary dance be part of an ordinary night out? Why shouldn’t audiences who stream series at home or go to the cinema feel equally comfortable stepping into a theatre?
For Booysens, contemporary dance works best when people recognise themselves inside it. Not in perfection, nor in polished presentation, but in vulnerability, emotion, humour, tension, softness and connection.
“There’s movement for the soul,” she says. And honestly, after speaking to her, it’s very difficult to disagree.
Day 1 Highlights (22 May):
- Convergence – Janine Booysens
- Speak the Hidden – New World Dance Theatre
- Journal – Northern Dance Project
- Intimacy of the Skin – Anderson Carvalho
Day 2 Highlights (23 May):
- Unraveled – Aaghier Isaacs
- Tainted – Nicolas Laubscher
- Salt in My Mouth – Awonke Mtonjana
- Parasite – Michael Halim
- The Third Day – Mbongeni Moyake
- By My Stripes Shall I be Known – Lusindiso Dibela
- Guest works: Discord (Gain Collective), Onrus (Oorleef Dance Project)
Tickets are priced at R150, with box office proceeds shared directly among the local guest artists – offering audiences a meaningful way to support the creation and sustainability of new South African dance.
EVENT DETAILS
ACDC Duet Xchange 2026: The Art of the Duet
Star Theatre, Homecoming Centre, Cape Town
22 & 23 May 2026
19:00 nightly
Tickets available at Webtickets
SOCIAL MEDIA: Follow @AndrsonCarvalho on social media for performance schedules, artist features, and behind-the-scenes access
