(Musa Hlatshwayo (right) receives the Eric
Shabalala Dance Champion Award from David Wa Maahlamela, Director of the Centre
for Creative Arts, UKZN)
The Centre for
Creative Arts and the Jomba! Contemporary Dance Experience Dance Festival
honoured acclaimed Durban dancer, choreographer and dance educator Musa
Hlatshwayo, with the Eric Shabalala Dance Champion Award.
‘The JOMBA! Eric
Shabalala Dance Champion Award, now in its 6th year, is in honour of the
memory of Eric Mshengu Shabalala who tragically passed away in 2011; he was a
local dancer, choreographer, teacher and one of the founding dancers of the
Siwela Sonke Dance Theatre in Durban,” says Artistic Director of JOMBA!, Lliane
Loots. “ In a fitting tribute, the Centre for Creative Arts and Jomba! each
year honour KwaZulu-Natal’s stalwart dancers and dance teachers – in the name
of Eric Shabalala.”
“This award is
given not only in recognitions of performance or choreographic excellence, but
also more profoundly and more importantly it is given in recognition of dance
practitioners who have worked tirelessly to help grow a culture of dance and
dance training in Durban – who have supported the growth of dance as an art
form at both community and regional level,” she says.
“The selection of
award winners for this prize, by the Jomba! Committee, goes beyond just the
selection of the best dancer but of those who also make the biggest social
contribution to their communities. It looks at those who go beyond the call of
duty, often with little or no funding, to put KZN dancers on the international
map. This is the spirit of Eric Shabalala that we see living and continuing in
Musa’s work.”
Hlatshwayo is a
multi-award winning young choreographer, performer, educator, voice artist with
experience in the performing arts and community development. He completed BA in
Media and Communications as well as Drama and Performance Studies at UKZN. He
trained with the Flatfoot Student company for two years and received an
opportunity to go and train at the Copenhagen School of Modern Dance before
returning to UKZN where he received his BA Honours and a Dance in Education
postgraduate certificate which he completed while working as one of the
founding members of Flatfoot Dance Company in 2003.
He has also worked
with the Fantastic Fish Dance Company, Portia Mashigo Dance Theatre, Siwela
Sonke Dance Theatre, Phenduka Dance Theatre, First Physical Theatre Company,
the Handsfree Puppetry Company, the Birmingham Repertory Theatre Company and a
list of other independent theatre directors, choreographers and producers.
Hlatshwayo is
passionate about the role of contemporary dance in a developing communities and
the role it plays in fostering dialogue across socio-political divides. He has
been seen in various educational institutions locally and abroad as a tutor,
guest lecturer, course coordinator and external examiner in the arts
departments.
JOMBA! Contemporary
Dance Experience is organised by the Centre for Creative Arts (UKZN) with
valuable support from the eThekwini Municipality.
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