Thebe Mabanga
Vincent Sekwati Mantsoe is a man clearly peaking in his career as a dancer and choreographer. The 28-year-old associate artistic director of Moving into Dance exudes an air of quiet confidence that belies his stature as one of South Africa’s leading dance practitioners.
He has come a long way from his Diepkloof upbringing where his mother, aunts and grandmother – whom he reveres like a sage – instilled in him immense respect for his culture, as well as an artistic inclination. ”These women – all of whom were sangomas – taught me to respect our ancestors, something that was to become central to my work,” he says, pointing out how singing and dancing as part of the rituals might have stimulated his creative urges.
His entry into dance was by chance. ”I had grown up doing whatever township boys do [and that does not include dancing] and I reached a point where I had grown disillusioned and aimless. I then responded to a newspaper ad for Moving into Dance auditions and that is where my career began,” he continues, falling short of saying that the rest is magic, or rather history.
It is magic that was born of what he describes as a jagged ”snapshot transition” from normal high school to studying disciplines like the history of dance, anthropology and movement. This was apart from pounding his body to perfect his technique.
It is a history that has seen him make his tour debut in Seville, Spain, just before the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and move on to spread his talent to places like Australia, France and his favourite country, Japan. ”The work ethic and humility of those people moves me,” he says of the land of the rising sun.
Along the way he has garnered numerous accolades including the 1995 Standard Bank Young Artist of the Year 1996 FNB Vita Male Choreographer of the Year as well as the fifth and sixth Rencontres Choreographiques Internationals (both in France). The impetus of this impressive streak was laid and is still centred at the Johannesburg Dance Umbrella.
It was there that, in his 1992 debut, he won pick of the fringe for his piece African Soul. It was also there that, in 1999, he scooped the best male choreography for a contemporary style (shared with Boyzie Cekwana) and best choreography for his piece, Phokwane. He has appeared in every edition in between and at this year’s FNB Vita Dance Umbrella he collaborates with French choreographer Michel Keleminis and Takeshi Yazoki of Japan to present Traduction Simultane, a meeting of three cultures. All this has happened in a year-long period during which he brought the house down at the London Dance Umbrella, and flew back to collaborate with the Pretoria State Theatre and his company for their respective seasons. After the Dance Umbrella he will be touring with Traduction until just before August.
Mantsoe believes that a dancer has to be ”lucid” and his work is an example of this. Musically, his material is at home with Ghana’s Pan African Orchestra as it is with pianist Keith Jarrett. Whether he uses dancers to assimilate birds in flight for Gula Matari, or uses set and costume to create a scorched plane in Hanano: Blessing of the Earth, there is a contained yet bustling energy that permeates his work.
He is clearly an artist whose vision has benefited from those around him. Among these he notes Moving into Dance founder and mentor Sylvia Glasser, his parents, his ancestors and God. Hang on to every leap.