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Dancer and choreographer Sunnyboy Mandla Motau, who has been appointed as the new artistic director of Moving Into Dance (MID), says he will work on rekindling relationships with various organisations which suffered due to the pandemic.
Motau of Alexandra township, north of Johannesburg, joined Moving Into Dance (MID) as a student in 2008.
Over the years, he has been slowly climbing the ladder. As he speaks to Sowetan about his new role, Motau believes that this is a massive milestone that demands a lot from him.
As someone who is always invested in the development of dance, Motau is already speaking about reviving relationships that the dance school had with various organisations before the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It is an honour to be selected to carry out this task and take over as an artistic director. This is big for a young man from the streets of Alexandra with only the hope of making a positive impact in the community and the world at large through my creative passion.
“I am so grateful to this organisation and to the many people that have supported me through my dance journey and now am looking to the future with confident expectation.”
Though Motau was appointed last week, his work as an artistic director started last year with his former colleague, Oscar Buthelezi, who has since left the organisation.
As an artistic director, he is expected to create programmes for development for the company, unearth young talent and mentor it.
“For me, it’s a life changing opportunity because it is very rare in the dance industry that you start as a student and climb all the way to a top position. I think I am up for this position because I have always believed in teaching and mentoring young dancers.
“I started a while ago to use my spare time to work with dancers in the township and assist them in creating works. For me this is a life-changing opportunity that comes with the challenge of learning more about the artistic side and business side.
“My job is to open more opportunities, collaborate with other artists and make sure that the company is more accessible to everyone. What is important is to care about ethos and ethics of the company and making sure our clients, funders, supporters see value in our programmes.”
Motau is already hitting the ground running, busy with a new show, Umthombo/Baobab, that is commissioned by Playhouse Theatre Company in Durban.
“As I take over, we have a couple of programmes planned that we are doing. We are currently busy in the East Rand with community projects. We aim to expand that to other local communities and just bring the company to the people. I want to be involved in the community, where we identify talent and bring to MID and mentor it.”
Motau has created many shows and won the Impact Award for Choreography in 2016.
He began his training with the community arts groups in Alexandra.
In 2008, he joined MID as part of the Performing Arts Training Course .
He started as an actor and later ventured into dance.
Motau’s first choreographed solo piece, Within Me, was presented at the Dance Umbrella 2010 as part of the Stepping Stones Programme. – Sowetan.
Online Reporter