L’Acadco: A United Caribbean Dance Force - 1 LUV
Art & Culture
Tue, 08 Sept · 18:00 · UJ Arts & Culture - UJ Arts Centre
University Road, Auckland Park
Free
The University of Johannesburg, in collaboration with the Jamaican High Commission, Pretoria, will welcome L’Acadco: A United Caribbean Dance Force to the UJ Arts Centre for a once-off Johannesburg performance of Jamaica’s L’Acadco presents 1 LUV! on 8th September 2026 at 18:00 (18:30) at the UJ Arts Centre. The engagement brings one of Jamaica’s leading contemporary dance companies into conversation with South African artists, students and audiences through performance, movement practice and cultural exchange. Founded in Miami in 1978 by Jamaican dancer, choreographer and scholar Dr L’Antoinette Stines, OD, L’Acadco relocated to Jamaica in 1982. For more than four decades, the company has pursued a mission of presenting Caribbean rhythms on the world stage and “building bridges through the arts”. Its work combines Caribbean folklore, contemporary themes, live rhythm and storytelling, with a movement language shaped by African diasporic histories and Jamaican cultural traditions. The UJ engagement follows L’Acadco’s participation in the 28th JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience in Durban, where the company presents 1 LUV on 1st and 2nd September 2026. The programme celebrates Black creativity, spirituality and resilience through works by Dr Stines and company artists, drawing together dance, music and social commentary. At the centre of L’Acadco’s practice is L’Antech, the Caribbean contemporary dance technique created by Dr Stines. The technique brings classical structures into dialogue with indigenous and traditional movement forms, including Kumina, Bruckins, Nyabinghi, Tambu, Yanvalou, Piquet, Arara, Bambosche and Dancehall. Its emphasis on body, mind and spirit offers participants an embodied encounter with the cultural memories and movement traditions that travelled across oceans and took new form in the Caribbean. The staging of the show is a reflection of the Jamaican High Commission’s remit to further strengthen Jamaican/South Africa relations through culture and the arts. The L’Acadco show forms part of the celebrations of Jamaica’s 64 years of Independence.
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