WGRUV’s Angels In Africa Brings a Landmark Martha Graham Ballet to South Africa

WGRUV Dance Company closes its 2026 season with Angels In Africa, a triple bill of contemporary dance culminating in the South African premiere of Martha Graham’s iconic Diversion of Angels

WGRUV Dance Company is ending 2026 on a high with Angels In Africa, an evocative triple bill bringing together ballet, contemporary movement and one of the most celebrated works in modern dance history.

The production opens at the Mandela Bay Theatre Complex in Gqeberha from 5–8 November 2026, before travelling to Johannesburg for performances at UJ Arts & Culture from 12–15 November. It will then close with a festive-season run at Roodepoort Theatre from 17–20 December.

Conceived as the finale to WGRUV’s third season, Angels In Africa presents three works exploring reverence, spirituality and love. At its centre is a significant moment for South African dance: the country’s first staging of Martha Graham’s Diversion of Angels.

Three Works, Three Expressions of Movement

The evening begins with Reverence, choreographed by Jessica Lang and set to Robert Schumann’s Symphonic Studies, Op. 13.

Lang describes the work as “my definition of ballet”. Rather than following a traditional narrative, Reverence is designed to be experienced through movement. Four couples shift between stillness and fluidity, forming changing partnerships through turns, lifts and embraces.

Recurring circular formations create a feeling of continuity and connection, giving the work an elegant meditative quality.

The programme then moves into Prayer, created by Lex and Holly Gruver. Rooted in WGRUV’s contemporary dance language, the piece invites audiences to look beyond what can immediately be seen.

Through movement, Prayer explores ideas of depth, soul and the eternal, creating a contemplative bridge between the evening’s opening work and its historic finale.

Martha Graham’s Diversion of Angels Makes Its South African Debut

The evening culminates with the South African premiere of Martha Graham’s landmark 1948 ballet, Diversion of Angels.

Created by one of the most influential figures in modern dance, the work explores different stages and expressions of love – adolescent, romantic and mature – through a single composition.

Its arrival in South Africa is particularly significant as WGRUV stages the work during the Martha Graham Dance Company’s centennial year.

WGRUV becomes the first company to bring the celebrated work to South African stages, adding a historic dimension to the company’s final production of 2026.

“This programme is a gift to Africa,” says WGRUV Artistic Director Holly Gruver. “Three works, three visions of what it means to love, to reach beyond ourselves, and to be still enough to see it.”

“We’re grateful to carry Diversion of Angels into the Graham Company’s hundredth year, and to share it here, for the first time, with the audiences of South Africa.”