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In honour of past heroes

NOISE MAKER: Choreographer Mamela Nyamza
NOISE MAKER: Choreographer Mamela Nyamza

STANDARD Bank Young Artist of the Year winner Mamela Nyamza will present an exciting dance piece, Abangxolayo ( Noise Maker s), at the Goethe on Main in Johannesburg.

Abangxolayo, choreographed and directed by Nyamza herself, will be performed on September 1, 2 and 3. It is part of the New Dance Festival organised annually by the Dance Forum.

She described the Noise Makers as, "all those who are no longer in our existence, their names are written everywhere and we still hear of them even today".

Nyamza explained: "It's like a beauty contest, a function, and yet we are going to mourn or commemorate all of those who have left us with something to celebrate. It speaks about the past, and moving forward with what has been powerfully done by those who never kept quiet, be it that they were artists, politicians, students, children or philosophers. This is a piece written by bodies creating moving images that will not be understood, but yet will say something powerful to the viewer," she added.

The multi-award winning Nyamza is also a project coordinator for the University of Stellenbosch's Project Move 1524, which educates and demonstrates through dance movement, therapy on issues relating to HIV-Aids, domestic violence and drug abuse.

She has been part of various original grand-scale musical casts, including The Lion King in The Hague, The Netherlands, in 2004, and We Will Rock You in SA in 2006. In 2008 Nyamza choreographed and performed her own piece, Hatch on Broadway, the Out The Box Festival and Baxter Dance Festival.

She also performed it at shelters for abused women in The Netherlands and at the World Population Foundation.

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