In Conversation with Mthuthuzeli November … (via Zoom)
Mthuthuzeli November is a dancer with Ballet Black and much in demand as a choreographer across the UK and beyond.
Photo credit :
Above: Portrait by Emily Nuttall, banner courtesy of Northern Ballet
Left: ‘Wailers’ at Northern Ballet, by George Liang
Monday 7 November 2022 … 7pm 🇬🇧 … via Zoom
Mthuthuzeli will be In Conversation with Christopher Marney
Born in Cape Town, South Africa, Mthuthuzeli started dancing at the age of 15 with the outreach programme, Dance For All.
In 2011 he was awarded a scholarship to attend Cape Academy of Performing Arts (CAPA), where he graduated with a distinction in 2014. He won a gold medal in the contemporary category in the South African Ballet Competition as a Junior in 2012 and as a senior in 2014.
He has worked with Cape Dance Company under the direction of Debbie Turner with choreographers including Bradley Shelver and Christopher Huggins. He made his debut work in 2014 on Cape Dance Company.
In 2015 he danced in the production of West Side Story before joining Ballet Black in September 2015 where he created roles in works of world renowned choreographers such as Annabel Lopez-Ochoa.
He made his first ballet for Ballet Black, Interrupted in July 2016, and created his own choreographic platform, M22 Movement Lab, collaborating with musicians, composers and designers to create new choreography for stage and film.
Mthuthuzeli won an award as South Africa's Emerging Artist at the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees (KKNK) for his solo work. In 2014 he was commissioned by the Cape Dance Company to create two new works (Visceral and The Rite of Passage), funded by the National Arts Council of South Africa, which premièred at Artscape Theatre in Cape Town.
In 2018, Mthuthuzeli created a solo for Precious Adams of English National Ballet. He also worked on projects including The Chemical Brothers, Sanlam and recently danced and choreographed for British artist Stormzy, headlining the 2019 Glastonbury Festival. In 2019 he was commissioned to make two new works for Ballet Black, Washa - The Burn from the Inside and Ingoma. Ingoma was nominated for four prestigious awards in the UK, winning the Lawrence Olivier Award for Best Dance Production and Black British Theatre Award for Best Dance Production 2020. He was also nominated for Best Emerging Artist.
In 2020 he was commissioned to make a work for The Grange Festival production Pricipice and he created a winning work for English National Ballet's Emerging Dancer 2020. Mthuthuzeli was then commissioned by Cape Town Opera to make Pergolesi Stabat Mater for on demand online release.
In 2021 he created a work for Northern Ballet titled What Used To, No Longer Is. He has made a new work co-commissioned by the Barbican Theatre and Ballet Black titled The Waiting Game to première in 2021.
His most recent creation ‘Wailers’ for Northern Ballet premiered in September in Leeds and will be seen in London at the Linbury Theatre 1-3 November 2022. Mthuthu also created the music for this piece.
