Durban is gearing up to bust a move for inclusivity!
Durban, South Africa (18 November 2025) – Flatfoot Dance Company has partnered with the Stable Theatre to host the 4th Flatfoot Access Festival!
It runs from 1 to 6 December and aligns with the end of National Disability Rights Awareness Month. The festival honours its long-standing commitment to creating dance spaces where everyone is welcome.
For 22 years, Flatfoot has been working with dancers with physical and intellectual disabilities.
“The journey toward access and professional training for dancers living with both intellectual and physical disabilities lies at the heart of this small ever-growing festival,” says Flatfoot’s Artistic Director Lliane Loots. “It is an amazing moment of celebrating not just the incredible dancers, dance makers, and choreographers participating, but of the truly transformative power of dance to transform and bind our communities together.”
The 2025 festival includes workshops, panel discussions and performances.
A highlight will be guest artist Amanuel Solomon from Ethiopia, founder of Katim Disability Dance, the first company in Ethiopia led by a disabled dancer. Amanuel will perform his solo piece ‘Who Am I?’ and host a free workshop sharing Ethiopian traditional and cultural dance.
Flatfloot dancers Sifiso Khumalo and Jabu Siphika will each premiere a fresh piece with guest dancers Bheki Khotsholo and Amanuel Solomon.
Plus, two much-loved groups will also be returning to the stage.
The Flatfoot Downie Dance Company – dancers with Down Syndrome who’ve been training with Flatfoot for nine years. They will be performing Hold My Heart. The newer Flatfoot Access Panthers, formed in 2023 for dancers with intellectual disabilities, together with the company, will present We Are Rising, inspired by Maya Angelou’s Still I Rise.
The festival is supported by the eThekwini Municipality’s Stable Theatre, the Oppenheimer Memorial Trust, and the African Dance Disability Network – all helping create space for disability-inclusive dance to grow.
Performances take place at Stable Theatre on Friday, 5 December at 6 pm and Saturday, 6 December at 2:30 pm. The venue is wheelchair-friendly with on-site parking.
Find tickets here.
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