Here's an Opportunity for aspiring artists: 2014 ACT Scholarship Awards open for registration

As last year’s winners settle into life at their chosen Universities, a new set of matriculants can start preparing to be put through their pl

aces, and make their dream of becoming a performing artist a reality.

The Arts & Culture Trust (ACT), in partnership with the Dramatic, Artistic and Literary Rights Organisation (DALRO) and Nedbank Arts Affinity, is pleased to once again offer three Performing Arts Scholarships for local aspirant performers.

The ACT | DALRO | Nedbank Performing Arts Scholarships Programme is aimed at Grade 12 learners and individuals younger than 25 years of age who are neither registered for an undergraduate degree nor considered to be a professional performing artist. The programme takes the form of a competition where participants are assessed on their acting, dancing and singing potential and culminates in a final showcase before an independent panel comprising judges the likes of popular artist HHP, producers Hazel Feldman and Richard Loring, television personality Rozanne McKenzie and internationally acclaimed choreographer Gregory Maqoma, that auditioned the final round in the past.

In order to open this opportunity for as many aspirants as possible, this year’s audition circuit will include Nelspruit in addition to their usual stops in Durban, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Johannesburg and Bloemfontein. Auditions will take place in June and July.

Since the inception of the programme in 2009, nine scholarships to the value of more than R900,000 have been awarded. Steve Norman won the inaugural Scholarship and went on to study Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Cape Town (UCT). Zola Myeza (2010 winner) from KwaZulu-Natal also attended UCT, and is finding her professional feet thanks to support from her agent, sponsor Talent etc. In 2011 two Scholarships were awarded – Nomagugu Gumede from KwaZulu-Natal enrolled at Howard College; and Tankiso Mamabolo from the Eastern Cape is studying Theatre and Performance at UCT.

Chantel Evans and Amanda Kunene each won a R105,000 Scholarship in 2012, and are enrolled at Tswhane University of Technology’s Musical Theatre Department and at Howard College respectively. 2013 Saw three Scholarships awarded – to Naledi Majola from KZN (registered for a BA in Theatre and Performance at UCT), Arlin Bantam from Cape Town (registered for Drama and Theatre Studies at Stellenbosch University) and National School of the Arts pupil Kamogelo Nche (studying Musical Theatre at TUT).

ACT - DARLO - Nedbank Award Finalists 2013

Three scholarships will be awarded in 2014, to the values of R150,000; R105,000 and R60,000; totaling R315,000. The winners will be announced after the Final, hosted by UJ Arts & Culture at the University of Johannesburg on 13 October 2014. Scholarship recipients will be at liberty to select their preferred performing arts course at any accredited South African tertiary institution.

The Scholarships Programme is currently open for registrations until 31 May 2014. For more information or to register for participation please visit www.act.org.za.

Pieter - Dirk Uys is on FIRE this month. Check out this still to come performance

 An Audience with Pieter-Dirk EISH! at the Lyric Theatre at Gold Reef City

Fifteen cardboard boxes on stage. Each filled with characters and stories. And Pieter-Dirk Uys.
That's all the visual required to make turn his latest show into an evening to be talked about long after the fact. Now in his late sixties, Pieter-Dirk Uys can vividly recall the recent history of South Africa with ease and is probably the most up to date person on current South African politics. He engages his audiences, speaking to the young, the expat, the gay and the gatvol.

"An Audience with Pieter-Dirk EISH" is just that. With the choice of fifteen boxes on stage, a member of the audience chooses a number. Out come characters and entertainment that could be a drama, a comedy, a farce or a shocking expose.

Every box holds a familiar laugh, all truly South African! Uys is on stage sharing a life that reflects the lives of so many of his audience, memorable experiences growing up in South Africa then and now, and doing sketches of various characters and their unique stories, some of them harking back to that dark past; most of them trying to make sense of this crazy future.

Only every night the show and the characters will be different.

An Audience with Pieter – Dirk EISH is on at the Lyric Theatre at Gold Reef City for two nights only on 28 and 29 March at 8:30pm. Tickets from R120 and are available at Computicket

Pictures taken by Stefan Hurter 

Design label, Black Coffee team up with Vuyani Dance Theatre for a cosmic affair

The catwalk will meet the stage when Vuyani Dance Theatre (VDT) teams up with fashion label Black Coffee for the epic dance work Full Moon, which premieres at the Joburg Theatre on 30 April 2014.
The internationally renowned contemporary dance company, founded by award-winning dancer and choreographer Gregory Maqoma, celebrates its 15th anniversary in 2014 with a lavish contemporary dance production of a scale seldom seen on Johannesburg stages.


Full Moon was conceived and directed by Maqoma with co-choreographer Luyanda Sidiya, VDT’s artistic director. It will feature 25 dancers, the South African National Youth Orchestra (SANYO), original music composed by Isaac Molelekoa and costumes by Black Coffee, gracing the theatre’s main Mandela stage from 30 April to 11 May 2014.
Maqoma explains that his collaboration with the Black Coffee label, headed by designer Jacques van der Watt, goes back as far as 2003, when he created his first solo work, Miss Thandi. Full Moon will be their fifth production working together.
“I like the boldness in their designs, but also I find their designs to be an extension of the themes of each piece,” he says. “Also, their attention to detail is remarkable and always surprising and challenging conceptually. The marriage of fashion with movement brings something new to the arts.”

Back row Lulu Mlangeni Front row L to R Kalima Mipata, Peter Lenso, Xolisile Bongwana Photo by Marijke Willems by Costume Black Coffee

Van der Watt believes that Black Coffee’s long-standing relationship with Vuyani makes the design process very easy for everyone involved. “We know how far we need it to be pushed visually and we can work together very intuitively because it is very easy to gauge expectations,” he says.
“Before designing the costumes, I like to watch the dancers rehearse. This gives me a very clear vision of the movement and what is needed from the costumes. At times we use very dramatic shapes to create high impact, but some of the choreography calls for almost quiet costumes to allow the bodies to shine and speak for themselves.”

Now that the choreography and concepts are coming together for the final work, Maqoma is already in awe at the textures, colours and ideas that Black Coffee is bringing to the table, tying in with the production’s themes of purity, distortion, hope and loss, dark and light, myth and the unknown.
“Costumes are an integral part of a performance,” explains Maqoma. “They define the character and bring the theme to life, so it is an important element that requires a designer who has a clear understanding of movement and theatre – and I do find that comfort in Black Coffee, as they are always about pushing the envelope.”

Keaoleboga Seodigeng Photo by MarijkeW illems -Costume by Black Coffee

Full Moon is a dance odyssey that is set to take the audience on a stirring, surreal journey from outer space to the landscapes of Earth, drawing on ancestral memories and myths. The production is set against the backdrop of Molelekoa’s original score, performed by the SANYO.


Book for Full Moon through www.joburgtheatre.com, or call 0861 670 670.
For more information, visit www.vuyani.co.za or check out Vuyani Dance Theatre (http://www.facebook.com/VuyaniDanceTheatre) on Facebook or @VuyaniTheatre (https://twitter.com/VuyaniTheatre) on Twitter.

If You're Keen For a Good Laugh this Weekend, Check Out this Show : "50 Shades of Bambi"

50 Shades of Bambi at the Auto and General Theatre in Sandton Square

The Auto & General Theatre on the Square presents Pieter Dirk Uys, well known as Tannie Evita in her new cabaret "50 SHADES OF BAMBI". This premiere event in Gauteng shows her at her best, not just as an extra ordinary entertainer, but also fearless, frank and fabulous. With songs and anecdotes reflecting her life and times and guided by Godfrey Johnson at the piano, Bambi shows how to put a square peg into a round hole.

Bambi Kellerman 

Bambi Kellermann is Evita Bezuidenhout’s younger sister. She is the chalk to Tannie’s cheese. Stripper, sex worker and grande horizontal who graduated from the University of Sex Cum Laude – and Fleur de Cap Winner 2010 for Best Cabaret, Bambi is in Johannesburg for the first time in ten years in the Gauteng world premiere of “FIFTY SHADES OF BAMBI”, her new fabulous onslaught against the prudish, the improper and the pathetic.

“50 Shades of Grey” was focused on one specific colour of behaviour. Bambi’s new cabaret includes a rainbow selection of other choices. It is also her journey from teenage confusions, through youthful experimentation, into middle-aged compromise to her twilight-year common sense about life, love, laughter and lies. It’s not just about sex; it’s about enjoying what comes naturally. And if it’s not natural, be careful.

Pieter-Dirk Uys presents: “50 SHADES OF BAMBI” with musical direction by Godfrey Johnson at the piano, while Bambi takes a raunchy ride to the other side of daily life: putting a square peg into a round hole through relationships, trust, happiness, hope, love and fidelity. Sex is the full-frontal focus, with words, music, toys and tinsel. Recommended to anyone who believes in freedom of expression and the right to choose what is best for them when the lights are low – all presented with the wisdom of experience, humour of recall and songs that remind and remain.

Bambi Kellerman 

50 Shades of Bambi is showing at The Auto & General Theatre on the Square till the 16 of March 2014: Every Tues - Fri 20h15; Sat 17h00 and 20h30; Sundays at 15h00.

Tickets are R150:00 and available at the theatre or at www.strictlytickets.co.za