IF you love dance, then this year’s Hilton Arts Festival – which runs from September 16 to September 18 at Hilton College – has plenty of shows to delight.

One of the most anticipated pieces at the festival is an enchanting, non-verbal production from Korea, Dallae Story, which includes traditional Korean dance.

Involving puppets, theatrical movement, Korean traditional dance and music, shadow theatre and projection, it depicts the heart wrenching disaster of war, the importance of family, daily life and peace through the eyes of Dallae, an innocent young child.

Recognised internationally, the troupe has toured to great acclaim in Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, Spain, France, Czech Republic, Denmark, Brazil, Turkey and Estonia.

Miguel Arreche, director of the Tolosa Festival said: “Art Stage San intelligently directs a production in which the charm and magic of puppets are combined with beautiful choreography. We are faced with one of the most universal puppetry masterpieces of the decade.”

Dallae Story will be staged in the Memorial Hall at 6 pm and 8 pm on September 16 and at 10 am on September 17. Tickets R170.

Also on the line up are the ever-popular Searle brothers, Ash and Brad, who return to the festival for the second time with their dance comedy, Big Boys The Third. It’s wild, it’s unbelievable and it’s hysterical.

Fresh innovative dance routines and larger-than-life action performed by the irresistible, multi-award winning dudes. Big Boys The Third is being staged at 10 am on September 17 in the Falcon Tent. Tickets are R170.

Celebrating 38 years in the South African dance industry, Moving Into Dance Mophatong (MIDM) proudly presents Feathers, a programme of exhilarating new dance works by its male dancers.

The season showcases four pieces of riveting dance:

• Road, choreographed by recently awarded Oscar Buthelezi;
• fight, flight, feathers, f***ers, which was originally commissioned by Dance Umbrella, and is a choreographic collaboration between Rachel Erdos and MIDM’s Sunnyboy Mandla Motau;
• Everlast choreographed and performed by Eugene Mashiane; and
• Sunnyboy Motau’s new solo work My Black Is Black.

MIDM presents Afro Fusion dance that is thought-provoking, innovative, yet accessible and is characterised by its sheer, evocative physical beauty.

Feathers can be seen at 3 pm on September 17 in the Grindrod Bank Theatre. Tickets R199.

Ash Searle will also be performing with his cheeky but fun better half, Vanessa Harris, in Love At First Fight, a wet-your-pants romantic dance/comedy.

Ash and Vanessa hit the stage to expose the foolish facts of a committed relationship: the highlights and the low blows. They’ll keep you teetering on the edge of your seat as they ignite the stage with their flawless, agile and riveting dance acrobatics.

It’s a date night from hell; the perfect blend of stereotypical and nonsensical – fumbling foreplay, death-defying dance and chaotic chemistry. The show will guarantee high action, laugh out loud entertainment – and you’ll squirm in recognition of the typical couple imperfections and of course rekindle your own love affair!

Love At First Fight can be seen at 3 pm on September 17 and 10 am on September 18 in the Falcon Tent.

Musa Hlatshwayo will be staging his work Yin’iRespect?! , an educational, multidisciplinary dance driven piece, to the festival  at 11 am and 3 pm on September 17 and 12.30 pm on September 18 in the Music Block.

The work is made up of street dance movements, can-dances, chants, physical theatre and story-telling – all creatively moulded together through a script with scenes that form a participatory theatre piece about respect.

The performers in Yin’iRespect?! take the audience on a rhythmic exploration of how tins and crates can be used to make enchanting dance rhythms, fused with vocal chants and street games, while inviting the audience to speak out about respect.

Tickets are R60.

To book for these and all other shows at the Hilton Arts Festival email tickets@hiltoncollege.com

For more information, visit http://www.hiltonfestival.co.za, or like the Facebook page: Hilton Arts Festival, phone 033 383 0126/7 or email festival@hiltoncollege.com