Zama stars
Andile (Edward) Sotiya
Andile started his ballet career at age 11 after being fascinated by a feature on classical dance on TV. He convinced his parents to let him join the classes at the Gugulethu church where Arlene Westergaard was teaching.
"Despite being mocked by the other boys who called me 'sissy', I loved to dance. I thought it would just be a hobby. I had no idea it would become a full time career," he says.
Andile came from a creative and supportive family background
and attributes part of his success to Arlene — "she
kept me focused".
His last performance for Zama was in 1993 after which he took up a bursary with Vicki Karras, head of the Pretoria Technikon dance department. In 1995, he beat stiff competition to win the Sanlam International Ballet Competition at the Pretoria State Theatre as well as a Vita Award for the Most Promising Male Dancer in the Contemporary Category at the Dance Umbrella in Johannesburg.
Sotiya was the first recipient of a scholarship to the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance in 1994. He remained in London and created his own company, Dancenomad, on becoming Associate Artist at The Place in 2002. He currently lectures at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds.
As a dancer, Sotiya has worked with companies like Phoenix
Dance Theatre and Ludus Dance Company (Britain's leading
dance in education company) and has toured extensively with
pop star Kylie Minogue. He has choreographed work for a
range of professional and youth companies and completed
a residency in Belfast, Ireland, working with young artists
from rival communities.
The Stadium is his most ambitious choreographic work. The avant-garde production reflects the cultural complexity of stadia as urban, creative spaces so as to re-evaluate the dominance of high art in a world that's increasingly characterised by the triumph of the popular.
He has taught extensively in the UK and in South Africa,
listing highlights like taking company class for The
Lion King in London and training Billy Elliot hopefuls
for Billy Elliot The Musical.
In 2004, Sotiya set up Roda to represent a group of creative artists, which he co-directs to facilitate a very successful Leeds-based research and development residency with Tiia Ourila and Douglas Thorpe.
"One of the highlights of my dancing career was arranging for Phoenix Dance Theatre to be involved in the Millennium Square Celebrations in Leeds where we performed for Nelson Mandela and his wife Graça." The dancers were later invited to lunch with the former president and his wife.
His dream is to run his own dance company in Cape Town.
"I want to give something back to my community. I know it
will be challenging because unlike the UK, where there is
huge support for the industry, in South Africa we still
have to struggle to keep ballet alive."
Mamela Nyamza
Mamela is an award-winning dancer from Gugulethu near Cape Town. At the age of eight, her grandmother enrolled her at Zama Dance School to keep her "off the streets and out of trouble".
In 1997, she completed a national diploma in dance at the then Pretoria Technikon. The following year, she received a one-year international scholarship to attend the Alvin Ailey Dance School in New York. Mamela then joined the dance company at the Pretoria State Theatre.
Career highlights also include dancing the lead role in
Richard Loring's African Footprint; performing
with The Lion King in The Netherlands; receiving
a scholarship to attend the Vienna International Dance Festival;
winning the FNB Vita Award for The Dying Swan at
Dance Indaba, and being selected as the South African representative
for the Superstars of Dance television show in the US. She
made it to the semi-final round.
On her return to Cape Town, Mamela taught at Zama Dance School for six months, where she also choreographed two pieces for the school, and has taught and choreographed for various dance companies in the area.
She coordinates a project under MOVE 1524 for the University of Stellenbosch, which addresses social issues such as HIV/Aids, domestic violence and drugs.
Mamela has toured a self-choreographed solo piece, Hatch,
to the Netherlands, Mexico and around South Africa. Choreographic
commissions include Kutheni for the FNB Dance Umbrella
and Mendi for the Baxter Dance Festival.
Mantu (Michael) Jakavula
Mantu trained at Zama Dance School
from the age of eight. He won a scholarship to study
for a national dance diploma at Tshwane University
of Technology in Pretoria. Mantu was then sent by
the Ackerman Family Foundation to participate in a
six week summer intensive workshop at the Alvin Ailey
Dance Theatre in New York.
He returned in 2007 to perform in The Lion King
SA, which toured to Taipei. He subsequently worked
with choreographer Adele Blank, before joining Bovim
Ballet for its inaugural season of Tango Nights
at Artscape Theatre in 2009. Thereafter, he joined
Dance for All's Inspirations Dance Company. |
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Photo by Richard Olivier
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Nontle Monde
Nontle Monde arrived at Zama Dance School
a very talented seven year old with a strong physical structure
as can be seen in this photo of her “rising up onto
demi pointe and never stopping until she stood barefoot
on full pointe”. She came from a very troubled and
impoverished background and extra sandwiches were always
available for her to eat during the breaks at rehearsals.
Nontle had no direction when she came
to Zama but it wasn’t long before she became a member
of the performing team and Zama became her “home away
from home” as it still does for many of its students.
From then onwards she blossomed from a lost little soul
into the successful, confident, professional musical theatre
performer that she is today.
"When our new school first opened,
I looked up one day in the middle of a rehearsal and
there was Nontle sitting on our benches quietly observing
the rehearsals that she used to take part in as a
child. We immediately ran towards one another, throwing
our arms around each other in a forever hug,"
says artistic director Arlene Westergaard. "She
told me that when she heard about our new school,
she couldn’t wait to come and visit us; she
had just arrived in Cape Town after a tour to Hong
Kong."
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Patrick Mngeni
Patrick Mngeni started dancing when he was seven years old at Zama Dance School in Gugulethu near Cape Town.
After completing matric in 2003, he enrolled for a
dance diploma at the Pretoria Technikon where he studied
classical ballet, jazz, African and contemporary dance.
During that time, he performed in several productions
including Kgwadi Ja Marumo, Cumbelele
and Futhi and Tjommies choreographed by Debbie
Gush.
In 2004, Patrick performed in the Miss South Africa and Miss Teen pageants and the following year at the Kora Music Awards. In 2006, he performed at the Miss Limpopo and Miss Teen pageants and travelled to Hong Kong where he participated in the Hong Kong Dance Festival.
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Sanmarie Kreuzhuber, Guy Wheatstone and Patrick Mngeni.
Photograph: Jean–Claire Bischoff
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After graduating, Patrick successfully auditioned
for The Lion King as a swing with the local
cast at Montecasino. He then joined the Taiwan cast
and eventually returned to South Africa in 2008. That
year, he was a finalist in the Dance Africa competition
and joined The South African Ballet Theatre (SABT),
the country's largest professional ballet company,
as a full-time member of the corps de ballet. He appeared
in seasons of La Traviata, Rock-a-Tutu,
Arts Alive and The Sleeping Beauty.
As a member of SABT’s senior corps de ballet, Patrick
performed in the company’s FNB Dance Umbrella entry
Motho mang ke mang in 2009. He also performed
in Coppélia, as Buttons in Cinderella
- The Ballet, made his debut as Wilfred in FNB's
Giselle and performed in Janice Honeyman's
Pinocchio during the festive season. |
Songezo Mchilizeli
Songezo was drawn to dance "by the strange music" he kept hearing from a church in Gugulethu. On further investigation,
he discovered Zama Dance School's ballet classes. He was 13 years old. He trained five days a week from noon until 7pm
and says artistic director Arlene Westergaard taught him that "hard work and quality" lead to success.
When he was 18, he won a bursary to study towards
a national dance diploma at Tshwane University of
Technology. He was a founding member of Tshwane Dance
Theatre and worked with prominent local and international
choreographers. He then joined Disney Production Company,
taking part in The Lion King in South Africa
and the tour to Taiwan.
In 2009, he was a member of Dance for All's Inspirations
Dance Company. In addition, he performed in Dada Masilo's
Romeo and Juliet at the Baxter Theatre.
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