Township dance project grooms self sustainable dancers

Cape Town - Driven by the desire to see black dancers exposed to more dancing opportunities, Mzo Gasa has transformed the lives of many black dancers in the township for the better.

Gasa, from Delft, who founded Sibonelo Dance Project in 2008, was moved when he realised there was a lack of professional dance organisations in the township.

He began his initiative in the Delft community, but has since branched out, bringing in dancers from surrounding townships.

Gasa said through his dance initiative and project, they had inspired one of their own to start the Intuthuko Dance Festival, which was founded by the National Arts Council.

He said they were now gearing up to tour Cape Town, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.

“This is our new production we are working on. After this one we are going straight to Ukuzinza which will tour Cape Town, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal from June for three months.”

Sive Gaika, who began dancing at the age of 8, joined Sibonelo Dance Project’s afternoon classes and through it, performed in various festivals at the Artscape and Baxter.

She said in the years that she has spent at Sibonelo Dance Project, she has gained various positive attributes like commitment, hard work and perseverance.

“Sibonelo Dance Project continues to enforce the love for African dance and appreciation for where we come from as black people. I recently put on a dance show at Delft theatre, where I was directing the Intuthuko dance festival in partnership with Sibonelo Dance Project,” she said

Lusanda Dayimani began dancing in 2012, and met Gasa at a training programme. She said she lacked confidence in the beginning, and did not know much about dance.

She shared how Gasa introduced her to his company and then began attending his Saturday classes.

“I became a full-time member of Sibonelo Dance project in 2015, and since then I’ve been growing. Through Sibonelo and Mr Gasa himself, the dream of travelling through what I love has been fulfilled, creating a network and new working relationships, developing children and facilitating, choreographing and basic admin.

“The company doesn’t only provide dance and performance skills, it also teaches life skills as well. With the help of Mr Gasa, and the Sibonelo Dance Project, some of us have received funding and created our own shows. Sibonelo Dance Project is a home that creates jobs for black people and develops the black community through dance,” she said.

Gasa said the classes were open and free for all ages but participants were grouped according to the experience of the dancer.

He shared that the youngest in the classes was 9 and the eldest is in their forties.

“We have classes that run from Monday until Friday in Delft. We had classes at UCT, but stopped them during the pandemic, we are looking at reviving them soon. We have professional dancers who we prepare for auditions and competitions. We also run artist programmes,” he said.

Gasa, who is a huge advocate for dancers to be financially stable and independent, said they taught and encouraged dancers about sourcing funding, and shared how a dancer in their project recently got funding through Sibonelo Dance Project guidance, and was able to employ them (as an organisation).

“One of our dancers was able to employ 18-20 of us as part of the Sibonelo Dance Project, through guidance we gave. The same dancer has since received additional funding for an upcoming showcase,” he said.