December 5-7, 2024 The Great Yes, The Great No

Artists

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  William Kentridge

  Concept and director

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  William Kentridge (1955, Johannesburg) works across mediums of drawing, writing, film, performance, music, theater and collaborative practices to create works of art that are grounded in politics, science, literature and history, always maintaining a space for contradiction and uncertainty. His work has been seen in museums and galleries around the world since the 1990s, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Albertina Museum in Vienna, Musée du Louvre in Paris, Louisiana Museum in Copenhagen, the Reina Sofia museum in Madrid, the Kunstmuseum in Basel and the Royal Academy of Arts in London. His work can be found in the collections of art museums and institutions across the globe.

  Kentridge has directed Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Shostakovich’s The Nose and Alban Berg’s operas Lulu and Wozzeck for opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera in New York, La Scala in Milan, English National Opera in London, Opera de Lyon, Amsterdam Opera, the Sydney Opera House and the Salzburg Festival. His original works for stage combine performance, projections, shadow play, voice and music, and include The Refusal of Time, The Head & the Load and Waiting for the Sibyl.

  In 2016, Kentridge founded the Centre for the Less Good Idea in Johannesburg, a space for responsive thinking and making through experimental, collaborative and cross-disciplinary arts practices. The Centre hosts an ongoing program of workshops, public performances and mentorship activities.

  Kentridge is the recipient of honorary doctorates from several universities, including Yale, Columbia and the University of London. Prizes include the Kyoto Prize (2010), the Princesa de Asturias Award (2017), the Praemium Imperiale Prize (2019) and an Olivier award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera (2023).

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  Nhlanhla Mahlangu

  Associate director | Choral composer

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  Exceptional vocalist, choreographer, composer, theatermaker, dancer and educator Nhlanhla Mahlangu is a graduate of dance teaching at Moving Into Dance, Mophatong. Born in Pholapark Squatter Camp in Apartheid South Africa in the late 1970s, Mahlangu started school during the national state of emergency in the 1980s and witnessed firsthand the conflicts among the African National Congress, Inkatha Freedom Party and the "Third Force’"of the 1990s.

  Mahlangu is a generous interdisciplinary collaborator who excels at conjuring original, complex and contemporary work rooted in traditional forms. He is celebrated for his embodiment of Isicathamiya, an a cappella-type musical form combining vocals and movement. Mahlangu uses this practice as a way to process the history of South Africa, particularly the plight of migrant workers. Mahlangu’s prolific practice is one of interrogation, articulation, development and research. He has gained exceptional ground through his pivotal collaborations with luminaries the caliber of William Kentridge (The Head & the Load, Sibyl, Ursonate, The Centre for the Less Good Idea), Robyn Orlin, Richard Cock, Gregory Vuyani Maqoma and Sylvia Glasser, as well as through his choral music and musicmaking approaches with his Hlabelela Ensemble and Song and Dance Works.

  Mahlangu has been celebrated with the Naledi award, Promax Africa Award New York Theatre and Dance Awards and the Reumert Award 2020 in Denmark, among others. His latest achievements include being one of the directors of Shaka Ilembe, an award-winning, 12-part television series that premiered in 2023 in South Africa.

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  Phala Ookeditse Phala

  Associate director

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  Phala Ookeditse Phala is an award-winning "storiyer" in the form of a theatermaker and director whose work has won awards in South Africa, the United States, the Czech Republic and Australia. He is the co-director of Noma Yini, a South African arts collective in the business of "storying"—the multiple ways of coming into, portraying, forming, building, making and performing stories.

  From 2019 to 2023, he was the animator at The Centre for the Less Good Idea, an interdisciplinary incubator space for the arts, based in Maboneng, Johannesburg. He holds a master's in dramatic arts from Wits University. His works champion emotional and psychologically stimulating storying as a uniquely African aesthetic. His focus and interest are on methodologies of making and creating work in ways that collapse and disrupt conventional norms.

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  Tlale Makhene

  Music director | Percussion

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  Soweto-born Tlale Makhene is a sought-after percussionist, composer and collaborator who draws from traditional, world and jazz music. Makhene has performed collaborated and worked with artists such as Miriam Makeba, Corinne Bailey Rae, Johnny Clegg and Pharaoh Sanders. His collaboration with William Kentridge began seven years ago with Refuse the Hour and continues through his work with Kentridge’s Centre for the Less Good Idea. Tlale has released two original albums: Ascension of the Enlightened (2004), which won the highest accolade in South African music for Best Contemporary Jazz Album, and Swazi Gold (2017). In 2020, Makhene was awarded the BVSM Award for best percussionist. He also wrote music for Dada Masilo’s Sacrifice. Other albums under his name are SG2.0 (2020 SAMA Awards Nominee for Best Adult Contemporary Jazz) and Busuku Nemini.

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  Mwenya B. Kabwe

  Dramaturg

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  Mwenya B. Kabwe is a Zambian-born maker of theater and performance, facilitator of creative processes, a performer, writer, arts educator and scholar. She holds a PhD from The Centre for Theatre Dance & Performance Studies (CTDPS) at the University of Cape Town (UCT), where she is currently senior lecturer and head of the theater section. Her creative practice and research is focused on contemporary African theater and performance, migration, immersive and site-specific performance work, live art, collaborative and interdisciplinary artmaking and reimagining African futures. She has lectured at the UCT Drama Department, Wits School of Arts division of Theatre & Performance and the Market Theatre Laboratory. She is a co-curator of the Unrehearsed Futures conversation series and a curatorial partner in the OpenScape Network. Her current projects include incubating collaborative interdisciplinary experiments through The Centre for the Less Good Idea in Johannesburg.

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  Greta Goiris

  Costume designer

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  Greta Goiris studied costume design in Antwerp and set design in Barcelona in the early 1990s. Goiris collaborated with directors such as Josse Depauw, Karin Beyer, Pierre Audi, Ivo Van Hove and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. From 2001 onward, she collaborated as costume designer with Johan Simons on numerous (music-)theater productions and operas; Sentimenti, Das Leben ein Traum, Die Vergessene Strasse (all for the Ruhrtriennale); Die Perser (Münchner Kammerspiele), Die Judin von Toledo, King Lear, Ödipus Herrscher (Bochum Schauspielhaus), Radetzky Mars, Richard 2, Geschichten aus Dem Wiener Wald, Damonen, Dantons Tod (Burgtheater Wien); Fidelio (Opera de la Bastille-2008), Herzog Blaubarts Burg (Salzburger Festspiele-2008), Alceste (Ruhrtriennale-2016), Don Carlos (Opera-Ballet Vlaanderen- 2019) and Alcestis (Epidaurus Festival-2022).

  Die Zauberflöte (La Monnaie-2005) would be the start of a long collaboration with William Kentridge. Operas The Nose (MetropolitanOpera New York-2010), Lulu (DNO/the MET/ENO-2015), Wozzeck (Salzburger Festspiele/The Met/Sydney OperaHouse-2017) and music-theater productions Refuse the Hour (Holland Festival/Festival d’Avignon), The Refusal of Time (Documenta Kassel), Winterreise (Wiener Festwochen), More Sweetly Play the Danse (Eye-museum Amsterdam), O Sentimental Machine (Istanbul Biennal), The Head & the Load (Tate Modern/ Ruhrtriennale/ Park Avenue Armory-2018) and Waiting for the Sibyl (Theatro dell Opera di Roma-2019). Goiris designed costumes and puppets for the film Oh to Believe in Another World (Luzerner Sinfonieorchester 2023).

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  Sabine Theunissen

  Set designer

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  Sabine Theunissen studied architecture at La Cambre in Brussels before embarking on a career marked by rich collaborations. For 17 years, she served as an internal décor assistant at the Royal Theater of La Monnaie in Brussels, following a year at the technical office of La Scala in Milan. Her creative journey took a significant turn in 2003 when she met William Kentridge, sparking a prolific partnership. Their collaboration commenced with The Magic Flute at the Royal Theater of La Monnaie in 2005, leading to a series of acclaimed opera productions and art installations. Notable works include The Nose (Metropolitan Opera, NYC, 2010), Refuse the Hour (Johannesburg, 2012), Winterreise (Vienna Festival, 2014), Wozzeck (Salzburg Festival, 2017), The Head & the Load (Tate Modern, London, 2018), and the film Oh to Believe in Another World (Luzerner Sinfonieorchester). Her collaboration with Kentridge extends beyond opera productions to encompass over 15 exhibition designs worldwide. Among these, notable works include his extensive retrospective at the Royal Academy of London and Taipei (2022-2024) and the exhibition Je n'attends plus presented by the Luma foundation in Arles.

  In addition to her work with Kentridge, Theunissen has lent her artistic vision to a range of projects. Collaborations with directors and choreographers include sets for Hélène Theunissen's La Dispute (2000), Aurore Fattier's Bug and Othello, Michèle Noiret's Hors Champs (2015) and Lillo Baur's Ariane and Barbe Bleue (Opera de Dijon, 2012). Notably, Theunissen designed sets for Rufus Wainwright's Prima Donna (Kungliga Operan, Stockholm, 2020) and Christmas windows for Hermès rue de Sèvres (Paris). In 2021, Sabine directed the short film WHITE BOX JACKET, supported by the Film LAB of the French community in Belgium. Based in Brussels, Theunissen is frequently lecturing and mentoring at institutions such as Stockholm University, La Cambre and the Centre for the Less Good Idea in Johannesburg. In 2016, she established the Squatelier, a studio that fosters creativity and offers internship opportunities for students of art, architecture and interior design. Her dedication to mentoring and the art of scenography shines through in her ongoing commitment to guiding the next generation of creatives. 

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  Urs Schönebaum

  Lighting designer

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  After completing an apprenticeship of photography in Munich, Urs Schönebaum worked with Max Keller as a part of the lighting department of Münchner Kammerspiele. In 1998, he worked as assistant stage director for productions at Grand Theatre de Genève, Lincoln Center New York and Münchner Kammerspiele. In 2000, he took up work as a lighting designer for opera, theater, dance, art installations and performances. He participated in over 200 productions at major theaters with stage directors such as Pierre Audi, Claus Guth, Laurent Pelly, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Damien Jalet, Sacha Waltz, Thomas Ostermeier, La Fura dels Baus and Michael Haneke. He was a longtime collaborator of Robert Wilson. His work also includes lighting designs for art projects with Vanessa Beecroft, Anselm Kiefer, Dan Graham, Taryn Simon, Soundwalk Collective, William Kentridge and Marina Abramovi´c. Since 2012, he also has been working as a set designer and stage director. He designed and directed the operas Jetzt, What Next? and Happy Happy for the Opera National de Montpellier. He directed and designed the 2nd Act of the Walküre Project at Staatsoper Stuttgart. His set and lighting designs include Bomarzo at Teatro Real, Aus Licht at Holland Festival, Apocalypse Arabe at Festival d’Aix en Provence, Klangwolke 22 in Linz, Bastarda! at La Monnaie Brusseles and La Regenta at the Matadero in Madrid.

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  Elena Gui

  Lighting designer

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  Elena Gui studied literature and theater, and started her career as assistant director and assistant of production for theater and experimental cinema. Since 2013, she has specialized in lighting. Among the theater, dance and opera companies she has worked for are Emilio Calcagno, La Fura Dels Baus, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Damien Jalet and Stefania Tansini. In the field of experimental cinema, she has worked with American artist Peter Miller and filmmakers collective Flatform.

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  Žana Marović

  Video editor and compositor

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  Žana Marović (born in Sarajevo, 1973) is a film editor based in Johannesburg, and a member of the South African Guild of Editors. She studied science before switching to video editing. In South Africa, Marović started her career as an assistant editor and colorist working with wildlife filmmakers and National Geographic Explorers-in-Residence Dereck and Beverly Joubert on their documentary projects. In 2011, she became part of the creative team working with William Kentridge as an assistant editor, then editor, compositor and projection designer on his theater productions and video installations, including The Refusal of Time; O Sentimental Machine; Notes Towards a Model Opera; Second Hand Reading; operas Lulu and Wozzeck; the internationally acclaimed multimedia work The Head & the Load; chamber opera Waiting for the Sibyl, commissioned by the Teatro Dell’Opera di Roma; Oh To Believe in Another World, a film commissioned by Lucerne Symphony Orchestra to accompany Shostakovich’s 10th Symphony; Self-Portrait as a Coffee Pot, the nine-part episodic series focused on Kentridge’s studio practice; and The Great Yes, The Great No.

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  Janus Fouché

  Video editor and compositor

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  Janus Fouché is a South African digital artist, working in multimedia projects ranging from immersive interactive sound installations to virtual reality, animation and self-organizing biological systems. He focuses on cybernetics, the digital space and AI as a parallel, abstract but increasingly present reality, with its own philosophy and aesthetics to be constructed, explored and interrogated. Fragments of digital and physical worlds are pulled into one another to create new, unexpected relationships. Algorithms that describe artificial life in line drawings, collages of film and animation meet motion-captured puppets and mechanical anthropomorphisms. He is most active as a collaborator, working with contemporary artists, composers, performers and filmmakers: William Kentridge, Philip Miller, Catherine Meyburgh, Žana Marović, Sabine Theunissen, Joslyn Barnes, Walter Murch, Marcus Neustetter, Jane Taylor, Mikhael Subotzky, Jason Mitcham, Jonas Lundquist, Gavan Eckhart, Nhlanhla Mahlangu, João Orecchia, Julia Burnham, Library Special Projects [LSP], Blessing Ngobeni and Deborah Bell. While completing his postgraduate degree (hons) in multimedia, he began an internship at the William Kentridge studio (2011), and in an ongoing subsequent working relationship has taken on editorial roles in several international Kentridge projects and performances. (most notably Oh To Believe in Another World, City Deep, Kaboom!, The Head & The Load, More Sweetly Play the Dance and Right Into Her Arms). He is a frequent collaborator at The Centre for the Less Good Idea in Johannesburg.

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  Joshua Trappler

  Video editor and compositor

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  Joshua Trappler (born in South Africa, 1990) is a film editor and director based in Johannesburg and a member of the South African Guild of Editors. Trappler started his career working on SuzelleDIY, a breakthrough comedy web series that aired on Comedy Central. The show won the award for Best Editing in a TV Comedy Series at the 2018 South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAs). He was an editor on Tali's Wedding Diary, a mockumentary TV series that was the first original Showmax production in South Africa. It won five awards at the 2019 SAFTAs, including Best Editing in a Comedy TV Series. Trappler then wrote, directed and edited the original feature documentary Rhythm & Smoke, a deep dive into a unique aspect of South African music and motor vehicle culture. The documentary aired on Showmax and received two nominations at the Bokeh International Film Festival 2021 for Best Directing as well as for Best Documentary. Since 2020, Trappler has worked with William Kentridge as an editor and video operator on installations and performances at the Wits Art Museum, the Royal Academy of Arts, the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, the Centre for the Less Good Idea and for the series of Slade Lectures at the University of Oxford. He formed an integral part of the creative team on Oh To Believe in Another World, a film commissioned by Lucerne Symphony Orchestra to accompany Shostakovich’s 10th Symphony; Self-Portrait as a Coffee Pot, a nine-part episodic series focused on Kentridge’s studio practice; and The Great Yes, The Great No.

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  Duško Marović

  Cinematographer

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  Duško Marović, SASC (born Belgrade, 1969) is a cinematographer based in Johannesburg. Since 2011, Marović has been working as a director of photography with William Kentridge on his theater productions, operas, films and art installations, including The Refusal of Time, More Sweetly Play the Dance, Notes Towards a Model Opera, O Sentimental Machine, Lulu, Wozzeck, The Head & the Load, Waiting for the Sibyl, Oh To Believe in Another World, Self-Portrait as a Coffee Pot and The Great Yes, The Great No.

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  Tony Miyambo

  Actor

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  Tony Miyambo is a BA (Dramatic Arts) graduate from the University of the Witwatersrand. He has worked as an independent theatermaker for over a decade and has been part of numerous theater productions, some of which have toured and won awards the world over. His body of work includes acclaimed solo performances The Cenotaph of Dan Wa Moriri, Commission Continua, On the Shoreline and Kafka’s Ape. Miyambo was awarded the 2012 Brett Goldin Award and studied with the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon. He was also an artist in residence at The Centre for Humanities Research, based at the University of the Western Cape.

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  Hamilton Dhlamini

  Actor

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  Hamilton Dhlamini, born December 15, 1969, is a storyteller who produces, writes and directs for his own company, NDLONDLO PRODUCTIONS, which specializes in theater, film and television stories, including Woza Albert!, ELETFU MASWATI, INDABANDABA, Zakata, Blood Psalms, Shaka Ilembe, Isithembiso and DiepCity. He is a SAFTA winner for Best Actor in Soapie/ Telenovela 2018. He starred in films Faith Like Potatoes, Otelo Burning and Five Fingers for Marseilles. He is also a voice artist for Castle Milk Stout.

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  Luc De Wit

  Actor

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  Luc De Wit is an actor, director and drama teacher. He began his career as an actor but later worked increasingly as a stage director. Since 1995, he has focused on directing operas. He also teaches regularly at theater and music theater colleges, and has given workshops for actors, singers and directors.

  De Wit has worked as a co-director with William Kentridge since 2005, and often revives Kentridge's productions in international opera houses and theaters. Among these productions have been Die Zauberflöte (Opera La Monnaie / De Munt, Brussels and revived in many opera houses), Il Ritornno di Ulisse, The Nose, Lulu and Buchner's Woyzeck. He was associate director of Kentridge's production of The Nose, originally seen at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York in 2010 and revived there in 2013. This production was also seen at the Festival d'Aix en Provence and at the Opera de Lyon in 2011. In 2012, he worked with Kentridge and composer Philip Miller on the chamber opera Refuse the Hour. The following year he worked as movement director on Guy Cassier's production of Götterdammerung at the Berlin State Opera and La Scala, Milan. That same year, he co-directed Die Zauberflöte with Pierrick Sorin in Lyon.

  In 2015, De Wit and Kentridge once again worked together, this time on Lulu, a co-production between The Met, The Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam, the Rome Opera and the English National Opera.

  In 2017, De Wit was co-director with Kentridge for Wozzeck at the Salzburger Festspiele in co-production with Sydney Opera and The Met. He recently worked with Kentridge as associate director and actor on The Head & The Load, which performed at the Tate Modern London, The Ruhrtriennale Festival, the Park Avenue Armory in New York, the Arsht in Miami and Joburg Theatre in Johannesburg. In 2022, he directed the revival of Wozzeck in the Opera de Paris (La Bastille) and in Liceu, the Opera of Barcelona.

  De Wit directed Orphée et Euridice at Gluck in the School of Arts in Gent in March 2024. In April 2025, Luc De Wit will direct the revival of Wozzeck for The Opera House in Toronto.

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  William Harding

  Actor

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  William Harding graduated from Wits University in 2011 with a BADA in Writing and Performance Studies. As an actor, he has appeared in Castaways, Houseboy, Garry’s Retreat, Metamorphosis, Tartuffe, The Miser, CARGO: Precious, The Table and Coriolanus, among others. His work as a playwright includes Tobacco and the Harmful Effects Thereof, The Cenotaph of Dan Wa Moriri in collaboration with Tony Miyambo and Gerard Bester, Kings and Travels Around My Room.

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  Nancy Nkusi

  Actor

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  Nancy Nkusi est une comédienne, chanteuse, danseuse belge d’origine rwandaise. Après deux ans de psychologie, elle décide d’arrêter ses études pour intégrer le conservatoire royal de liège section théâtre en 2007. Depuis 2011, elle participera à de multiples projets de théâtre et de télévision que ce soit avec Dorcy Rugamba pour Gamblers, Hate Radio de Milo Rau, le dernier testament de l’actrice française Mélanie Laurent, Jungle book de Robert Wilson, la théorie du Y diffusée sur la RTBF, la dernière nuit du monde de Laurent Gaudé et Fabrice Murgia, ou enfin de The Great Yes, The Great No de William Kentridge.

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  Xolisile Bongwana

  Vocalist / performer

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  Eastern Cape-born Xolisile Bongwana is an accomplished dancer who is also well versed in singing, composing, directing, acting and choreography. He worked with the UPhondo Lwe Afrika company of Port Elizabeth from 2005 to 2010 and with Vuyani Dance Theatre from 2011 to 2017. Bongwana has had an impressive career as an artist over the past decade and a half, and his involvement in the performing arts industry has seen him work with award-winning choreographers and directors such as Robyn Orlin, Luyanda Sidiya, Gregory Maqoma, Angus Gibson, James Ngcobo, William Kentridge, Makhoala Ndebele, Phala Ookeditse Phala and Nhlanhla Mahlangu. His impressive performance experience includes being part of works such as 100 Years ANC Celebration, Gibson Kente, Umnikelo, Dominion, Skeleton Dry, Beautiful Us, Four Seasons, Music Tribute Hugh Masekela Celebration, Centre for the Less Good Idea Seasons 1, 2, 5, 9 and 10 and Cion. Bongwana’s composition was used for Luyanda Sidiya’s SIVA, Standard Bank Young Artist winner for dance in 2015. He has also composed for MAKWANDE, IN HER SHOES and AMAWETHU also by Luyanda Sidiya.

  An artist of note, Bongwana was nominated in 2016 as part of the Mail and Guardian 200 Young South Africans; was the winner of EASTERN CAPE ARTS AND CULTURE AWARD 2020 DANCE AND CHOREOGRAPHY; and was the 2020 Bronze Standard Bank Ovation Award winner NAF. He has been part of William Kentridge’s Waiting for the Sibyl and involved in Broken Chord by Gregory Maqoma and Thuthuka Sibisi. His solo, titled MNQUMA, which he choreographed with David April, has been performed at The Centre for the Less Good Idea, Pop Art Theatre, Dance Umbrella Africa 2019, Market Theatre Intubation Program and 2020 VNAF VFRINGE Program. His solo music work titled UZURI has been perfomed at the Joburg Theatre. Recently, he worked on his television debut on Shaka Ilembe as one of the lead vocals in music and as Ndwandwe’s Traditional Healer. Bongwana has toured Kenya, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Angola, France, USA, UK, Spain, Canada, Australia, Italy, Holland, Romania, Finland, Luxembourg and Brazil.

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  Thulani Chauke

  Dancer

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  Thulani Chauke started his performing arts career at the Jabavu Anti Crime Youth Aids Awareness. Between 2001 and 2005, Thulani has performed for various projects with ARCO Dance Theatre, Halala Africa Theatre Society and Taelo Dance Theatre. In 2009, he joined Moving Into Dance as a trainer and later that year as a company member. In 2011, he joined Vuyani Dance theater as a company member. From 2012 through 2017, he joined Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative as its community arts engagement officer as well as a dancer and choreographer. He is currently a freelance artist.

  Chauke created his first solo work, BLACK DOG, while in a residency program at the Centre National de la Danse Paris and at the Klap Maison Danse in France in 2013; this solo work has been performed at several dance festivals since its creation. Chauke has performed in various dance works and worked with internationally acclaimed choreographers including Gregory Maqoma, PJ Sabbagha, Fana Tshabalala, Shanel Winlock, Ivan Estegneev and Evgeny Kulagin (Russia); Iain Macdonald, Qudus Onikeku (Nigeria); Themba Mbuli, Thabo Rapoo, Gustine Makgeledisa and Andrea Severa (Argentina). Since 2017, Chauke has been a freelance artist and worked with William Kentridge in various projects curated by The Centre for the Less Good Idea: Season 1 and 4 (2017, 2018); History of the Main Complaint (2017), originally by Kentridge and reinterpreted by Thulani; The Head & the Load (2017/2018/2019/2022/2023) and Sibyl (2019,2021-2023), both created by Kentridge.

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  Teresa Phuti Mojela

  Dancer

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  A South African artist born and raised in Ivory Park and Limpopo Province, Teresa Phuti Mojela is an internationally acclaimed performing artist, dancer, choreographer, teacher, movement director, mentor and independent producer. Phuti plays the lead character Sibyl in William Kentridge’s Waiting for the Sibyl, which won the 2023 Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera. She is a founding member and director of Phuti Pedi Productions, Children Saturday dance classes and curator and artistic director of BASADI DANCE FESTIVAL and MOTHLANA KALANA INCUBATOR 2023 for young female/nonbinary choreographers and dancers. Phuti started her acting and dancing career in 1999 at Umqhele Secondary School in Ivory Park, taught by her teacher Mrs. Kwena Mphela and working with Tembisa-based Township Mirror Theatre Group under the leadership of the late Oupa “China” Malatjie. She studied dance, theater and drama at Paul Rapetsoa’s Institute of Dramatic Arts (2005-2006), Inzalo Dance Theatre (2008) and Tribhangi Dance Theatre (2009). She has performed in Thabo Rapoo’s Sehume Tlokweng for Dance Umbrella (2009) and was featured in Luyanda Sidiya’s Indlela for Dance Umbrella with Luthando Arts Academy (2010). From 2010 to2014, she became a senior dancer with Vuyani Dance Company under Gregory Maqoma as well as a dance teacher for Outreach Children’s program and Vuyani Saturday Academy. She continued as a teacher and dancer in 2015 at Moving Into Dance Mophatong. She was invited by the Holland Festival to partake and present her work in the Immerse@HF Program, and she has worked with many artists such as Omphile Molusi, William Kentridge, Craig Higginson, Themba Mbuli, Bronwyn Lace, Phala O. Phala, James Ngcobo, Leila Henriques, Mwenya Kabwe, Shanell Winlock, Robyn Orlin, Sello Pesa, Vice Monageng, Athena Mazarakis, Napo Masheane, Ntshieng Mokgoro, Jerry Mofokeng, Jayspree Moopen, Margaret Mokoka, Mark Hawkins, Moeketsi Koena, Alfred Hinkel, Sylvia “Magogo” Glasser, Florent Mahoukou, Javier Velazquez Cabrero and Eric Trufas. Phuti has toured extensively in Australia, Europe and the USA. She is a freelancer and aspiring sound and lighting technician mentored by Ntuthuko Mbuyazi, Siya Nkosi, Sibusiso Ndumndum and Oliver Hauser. Currently she is a director and assistant choreographer for Ekurhuleni Young Stars Outreach Program (Children's Rights).

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  Thandi Ntuli

  Pianist

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  South African award-winning jazz pianist and vocalist Thandi Ntuli has a rich musical heritage. Since the release of her debut album, The Offering (2014), she has made an imprint on the global jazz community as one of the leading voices of modern South African jazz. A recent highlight of her career has been working with William Kentridge in the collaborative workshop process of developing his commission The Great Yes, The Great No. Through her work and collaborations over a 16-year career, Ntuli has collaborated with artists around the globe, demonstrating her fluidity with various genres—a notable characteristic of her overall compositional style. These include work with South African artists Steve Dyer, Thandiswa Mazwai and Neo Muyanga, and her recent engagement as a featured soloist with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Her most recent album, a collaborative effort with Los Angeles-based producer and percussionist Carlos Niño, was released in November 2023 under Chicago-based record label International Anthem. She has received many awards and nominations over the years, including the coveted Standard Bank Young Artist award for Jazz in 2018. At the tender age of 4, she started taking classical piano lessons under the tutelage of Ada Levkowitz. However, her keen interest for jazz was only kindled later in life, leading her to enroll and complete a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Performance at the University of Cape Town.

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  Marika Hughes

  Marika Hughes

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  Marika Hughes is a cellist, singer, songwriter and native New Yorker from a
  musical family; her grandfather was the great cellist Emanuel Feuermann.
  Hughes holds degrees in political science and cello performance from
  Barnard College and the Juilliard School, respectively. She has also been a
  storyteller on NPR’s The Moth Radio Hour. Hughes has played with Whitney
  Houston, Lou Reed, Anthony Braxton, David Byrne, Adele, D’Angelo, Idina
  Menzel, Taylor Mac, Nels Cline, The Uptown String Quartet and Henry
  Threadgill, among many others. She has self-released three albums: The
  Simplest Thing (2011), Afterlife Music Radio (2011) and New York Nostalgia
  (2016). Hughes is the founder and co-director of Looking Glass Arts, an artist-led creative residency retreat and recording space in Upstate New York, offering artist residencies on the nonprofit's 15-acre property in their 100-year-old barn studio. Looking Glass Arts prioritizes artists of the Global Majority, democratizing access to the space, time and natural beauty critical to artistic growth.

   

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  Nathan Koci

  Banjo / accordion / additional arranging and orchestration

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  Nathan Koci is a music director, conductor and performer across multiple disciplines, including theater, folk music, jazz, contemporary classical music, and dance. His MD credits include Illinoise (Justin Peck/Sufjan Stevens), Hadestown (U.S. Tour, Assoc. MD Bway/Citadel), Daniel Fish’s Oklahoma! (Bard Summerscape, St. Ann’s Warehouse, Bway, West End), Most Happy in Concert (Bard Summerscape, Williamstown Theater Festival), Maria Irene Fornes’ Promenade (Barnard/NYU) and Ted Hearne’s The Source (LA Opera, SF Opera, BAM Next Wave). Performance credits include William Kentridge’s The Head & the Load (Park Ave Armory, Ruhrtriennale, Tate Modern, Art Basel Miami, Joburg Theater), Maira Kalman and John Heginbotham’s The Principles of Uncertainty (BAM Next Wave) and Alicia Hall Moran’s Cold Blooded (National Sawdust). He is the featured accordionist on Sam Sadigursky’s Solomon Diaries Vol I-III, and performs and records with The Hands Free, Shovels and Rope, The Michael Leonhart Orchestra and Guy Klucevsek,

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  Asanda Hanabe

  Alto

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  Asanda Hanabe is an actress, singer, dancer and voiceover artist from the Eastern Cape. Her onscreen appearances include short films Umgoma Emoyeni directed by Mmabatho Mantsho, Isidima by Mlingane Dube and Masego by leburugraphy and TV series The Final Cut, Generations: The Legacy and The Queen. Her theater collaborations include works directed by Mandla Mbothwe, Mzokuthula Gasa, Phala Oonkeditse Phala and Faniswa Yisa and works curated at The Centre for the Less Good Idea by William Kentridge. 

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  Nokuthula Magubane

  Soprano

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  Nokuthula Magubane is a Wits BMus (Honours) graduate who majored in Classical vocal performance as a soprano and has a passion for classical music and the arts. Throughout her degree, she worked with vocal tutor Eugenie Chopin, under whom Magubane presented her final year recital in November 2019. Magubane has been part of William Kentridge's production The Head & the Load. With the production, she performed in New York (The Armory), London (The Tate’s Turbine Hall), Germany (Ruhrtriennale), Amsterdam (The Holland Festival) and at Joburg Theatre for the South African installment of the production in 2024. Magubane is also part of the Musorelief project, headed by Phillip Miller, which aimed to support performing artists during the tough COVID times. The project has also released an album called Reuben T Caluza The B Side, which is a collection of works by the South African choral composer Ruben T Caluza. In 2022, Magubane joined the Vuyani Dance Theatre production titled Broken Chord. With Broken Chord, Magubane has performed at Stanford University, London and New York's BAM theater. Magubane had her opera debut in The Joburg Theatre’s 2022 production of Don Giovanni as Zerlina, and she is looking forward to adding more operatic roles to her name.

  In 2023, Magubane took on one of the leading roles of Phillip Miller’s Nkoli! The Vogue Opera, an opera documenting the life and time of Wits gay rights activist Simon Nkoli. In the production, which was showcased at the John Kani Theatre in Johannesburg’s The Market Theatre, she played the role of Bev Ditsie, best friend to Simon Nkoli and lesbian rights activist. Magubane continues to grow from strength to strength and looks forward to a bright and fruitful career.

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  Khokho Madlala

  Soprano, alto and tenor

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  Khokho Madlala is the hidden face behind the lone powerful voice on DiepCity, a South African songwriter, recording artist and soundtrack lyrical composer who hails from Port Shepstone KZN, a town situated 120 kilometers from Durban. Madlala fell in love with music when it gave her a voice, literally, because her husky voice and asthma blocked her speech. She comes from humble beginnings of a family choir consisting of 13 siblings, upgraded to local choirs at a tender age of 7 and never looked back, graduating into corporate gigs with ensembles, which led her straight to her solo career as a vocalist. Madlala’s sound is embedded in ancestral African jazz, expanding when necessary. The sound was born from her mother and father’s love for Amahubo, Ingoma, Ubungoma and Zion. African music experts contributed severely to her sound; for example, Madlala has performed alongside giants such as Lady Smith Black Mambazo, Mbuso Khoza, Mafikizolo and The Soil, experiences where she was often the youngest African music explorer in most workrooms her entire life.

  Madlala’s achievements include performances at King Shaka International Airport, the Ballroom Dance International Competition at ICC, soundtracks for SABC 1’s telenovela UZALO (2014-2016) and collaborations with Blackbrain and Mnet on soundtracks for Vula Vala, Boxing Day and DiepCity (2019-2021). Madlala was a winner of Kumisa Industry Night (2019), first runner-up on singing competition MTN Megastar (2019) and a contender on The Voice – Knockouts (2018). She has performed as a part of Freedom the Musical (2018, ensemble), Kiu (2018, lead singer), That Night of Trance (2018, lead singer and actress), Sarafina! (2017, ensemble with lines) and Shona the Musical (Edinburg Fringe Festival 2022, lead singer, actress and vocal coach). Most recently, she has participated and performed in Letters of Hope as lead actor and lead singer and Season 10 at The Centre for the Less Good Idea.

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  Nomathamsanqa Ngoma

  Alto and tenor

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  Nomathamsanqa Ngoma started her acting career in 1994 at Mdantsane Community Group in EC. She later joined the Market Theatre Laboratory as a student in 1997, graduating in 1998 as a professional actor. In 1999, Ngoma started performing in theaters run by directors, including Ways of Dying by Lara Foot, Newtown at Market Theatre and Makhanda Festival. She toured internationally and was also nominated for the Naledi Awards as Best Supporting Actress for Crepuscule, directed by Khayelitsha Dominic Gumede. She has appeared in local television series, international movies and commercial advertisements.

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  Mapule Moloi

  Alto and tenor

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  Mapule Moloi hails from Vosloorus, Gauteng-South Africa. She started singing at a very young age. Moloi holds a diploma in vocal art: performance; she studied voice with Mr. K. Pali, where she mastered vocal techniques that allow her to switch genres with ease. She has a velvetlike tone that has rich qualities. Moloi also has a post-graduate certificate in education (TUT). While Moloi was still in TUT, she sang chorus for a couple of productions at the Breytenbach Theatre in Tshwane that included Falstaff and Cosi fan tutte. She has worked with internationally acclaimed artists such as William Kentridge and Philip Miller. The Head & The Load is the highlight performance for Moloi. She is also passionate about community-upliftment initiatives. During her university studies, she always had interest in the planning and coordination of programs and productions. Since 2017, Moloi has been a voice tutor for young artists in her community. As she is a young woman and professional educator, being involved in community development is an epitome of the essence of Ubuntu.

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  Zandile Hlatshwayo

  Alto and soprano

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  Zandile Hlatshwayo (aka Zandi Hlatshwayo) was introduced to the music industry in 2003 when she met Themba Mkhize, who gave her informal training. She then started working for him as a backing vocalist. He introduced her to people such as Shaluza Max Mtambo and Lucas Senyatso, among many others. In 2005, Hlatshwayo joined a group called Amantombazane as their lead, which was produced by Sizwe Zako. In 2007, she joined Wadz Music Company, where she released her first solo house album, Life Is a Journey. In 2009, Hlatshwayo became a member of Soweto Spiritual Singers (SSS), which is led by Vicky Vilakazi from Joyous Celebration, and they performed at the 2010 Soccer World Cup. Hlatshwayo has also performed with Lira, Bebe Winans, Sechaba Padi, Thabo Mdluli, Jo Nina, Uche, Patrick Duncan and Moses Molelekwa jazz band, among others.

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  Anathi Conjwa

  Soprano

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  Anathi Conjwa is a singer-songwriter, international award-winning theatermaker, actor, mental health advocate and model. Her theater career kicked off in 2017 with her start as lead in the musical Hear Me Move, coinciding with her first year at AFDA University. Conjwa co-founded international award-winning theater company Instusa in 2019, and has since performed and collaborated with numerous theater productions, working in establishments such as The Centre for the Less Good Idea, The Market Theatre and Joburg Theatre. The multifaceted artist takes pride in constantly exploring and inserting herself in different artistic media.  She was crowned Miss Lady Grey 2012/2013, Miss Callies 2015/2016, first runner-up Miss Merafong 2016/2017 and in the renowned Miss Soweto pageant, first runner-up 2020/2021. Throughout 2020 and 2021, Conjwa featured in multiple television commercials, ranging from the FNB changeable campaign to BET, her face plastered over billboards nationwide and in countries south of the Sahara Desert. In 2021, Conjwa entered the reality music competition Idols on MNet, making it as a Top 10 finalist. Mental health is at the forefront of most of her artistic projects. Conjwa frequently collaborates with NPOs in the hopes of breaking the stigmas surrounding mental health, educating and providing affordable and quality mental health care for rural areas.

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  Gavan Eckhart

  Sound design

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  Gavan Eckhart is a sound engineer, producer and owner of Soul Fire Studios in Johannesburg, South Africa. For many years, he has been working with the cream of the South African music industry. He has recorded and mixed the sound for artists such as Miriam Makeba, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Soweto Gospel Choir and Freshly Ground, and has produced sound for William Kentridge’s collaborative works with Philip Miller (including Miller's extensive film score repertoire). Gavan also tours with top South African and international bands, providing great live mixes for a diverse listenership. His vast experience in theater, television, film and music production has recently culminated in the creative utilization of sound technology in visual arts and music production. He is currently installing sound systems for museums and venues, produces and mixes a variety of musical and visual artists, in the studio and on the road. He has been nominated for a SAMA for Miriam Makeba’s Reflections as well as a Golden Reel Award for the soundtrack to The Book of Negroes. SoulFireSA.com