South Africa – Page 3 – Sarafina Magazine

A Conversation with Amra-Faye Wright

Amra-Faye Wright is an award-winning actress best known for portraying Velma Kelly in Chicago the Musical, both on Broadway, London’s West End and in international tours. She trained extensively as a classical and jazz dancer and began her career performing in the Spectacular Musical Revues at Sun City. She spent the following years developing her skills in many musical genres and obtained a diploma in Contemporary Music at Allenby College in Johannesburg, which has resulted in a versatile and eclectic performance style. After starring in Viva Sun City at Sun City Theatre, Amra-Faye left for Monte Carlo where she performed as lead artist in the world famous Cabaret du Casino for two years. Her gift for story-telling led her to write, and perform her first one-woman revue, Rouge Pulp, which enjoyed a sellout season and prompted her to write Drinks on Me and It’s Not Where I Start. In 2005, she was awarded the Naledi Theatre Award and the Fleur du Cap Theatre Award for her performance in the South African production of Chicago. Continue reading →

July 10, 2019November 17, 2019 by Sarafina Magazine Categories: Actor, Actress, Arts, Conversation, Culture, Dance, Dancer, Fleur du Cap, Interview, Musical, Now Playing, Performer, Photography, Production, Sarafina, Sarafina Magazine, Singer, South Africa, Theater, Theatre, Theatre Awards, Uncategorized, Woman, Women, WomxnTags: Actor, Actress, Amra-Faye Wright, Ballet, Broadway, Chicago, Conversation, Dancer, Fleur du Cap, music, Musical, Musical Theatre, Musical Theatre Actress, Naledi Award, New York, Performer, Photography, Singer, South Africa, South African, Theater, Theatre, Velma Kelly, West End, Women Leave a comment

A Conversation with Shelley Lothian

Shelley Lothian is an award-winning choreographer, director, singer, actress and dancer. Her performance credits include The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Boys in the Photograph, Mamma Mia, We Will Rock You, Show Boat and Cabaret. She directed Chef, Rattle and Roll; The Purr Factory and Maybe Baby It’s You. She served as Resident Director on Janice Honeyman’s Show Boat, Matthew Wild’s Cabaret and West Side Story; David Kramer’s Orpheus in Africa and District Six- Kanala, and most recently King Kong with Jonathan Munby at the Fugard Theatre. She was also Associate Director on the international musical Tiger Bay. She has choreographed various productions including The King and I, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, District Six- Kanala and Sneeuwitjie. Shelley’s other choreographic credits include My Fair Lady; Chef, Rattle and Roll and Liefling – all of which received Naledi Theatre Award nominations, as well as Fiddler on the Roof and The Pirates of Penzance which both won the Naledi Theatre Award for Best Original Choreography. She is currently starring in the Fugard Theatre’s production of Kinky Boots where she also serves as Resident Director. Continue reading →

July 3, 2019September 26, 2019 by Sarafina Magazine Categories: Actor, Actress, Arts, Cape Town, Choreographer, Conversation, Dance, Dancer, Director, Interview, Musical, Now Playing, Performer, Photography, Sarafina, Sarafina Magazine, Singer, South Africa, The Fugard, Theater, Theatre, Uncategorized, Woman, Women, WomxnTags: Actress, Advice, Cape Town, Choreographer, Conversation, Dancer, Director, Kinky Boots, music, Musical, Naledi Award, Performer, Photography, Resident Director, Shelley Adriaanzen, Shelley Lothian, Singer, South Africa, The Fugard, Theater, Theatre, Women 2 Comments

Guest Post: Swan Song Takes Flight

During our conversation with storyteller Buhle Ngaba in 2017, she spoke about winning the Brett Goldin Bursary and creating her show, Swan Song during her time at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Now, almost three years later and after a successful developmental and award-winning run at the Klein Karoo National Festival in 2017, Swan Song has its eyes firmly focused on Vrystaat Kunstefees. Prior to its run, Buhle has launched Going For A Song, an art auction with a difference, making a difference to make art accessible. At the auction which will take place at the Book Lounge on July 1st, bidders will raise funds to get Swan Song on stage in front of a wider audience. On the night, it’ll be chosen at random and announced to guests which items will be up for auction – sold, to the highest bidder! – and which will be raffled. This split is symbolic of what Buhle hopes to do with Swan Song, and her wider body of work: to democratise art in a way that allows accessible participation and an easy buy-in to art that maintains its value. Those purchasing ‘tickets’ will do so at a fixed cost and post them into the “bidding box” beside each artwork to stand a chance to make it their own. In celebration of the upcoming auction, Buhle writes about the evolution of Swan Song. Continue reading →

June 26, 2019June 26, 2019 by Sarafina Magazine Categories: Actor, Actress, Art, Artist, Arts, Cape Town, Culture, Essay, Now Playing, Organisation, Performer, Playwright, Production, Sarafina, Sarafina Magazine, Shakespeare, South Africa, Theater, Theatre, Theatremaker, Uncategorized, Woman, Women, Womxn, writerTags: Actress, All womxn creative team, Amy Rusch, Auction, Author, Brett Goldin Bursary, Buhle Ngaba, Cape Town, Conversation, Creative, Creator, Essay, Fundraiser, Guest Post, Ilana Cilliers, KKNK, Klein Karoo National Festival, Neo Baepi, Opinion, Royal Shakespeare Company, RSC, Shakespeare, Sitaara Stodel, South Africa, Storyteller, Swan Song, Theater, Theatre, Vrystaat Festival, writer Leave a comment

A Conversation with Debbie Turner

In October 2018, Debbie Turner was appointed the Chief Executive Officer of Cape Town City Ballet. She founded the Cape Academy of Performing Arts in 1985 and went on to become the founding Artistic Director of the Cape Dance Company in 1995. Recently, she sat on the prestigious panel of judges for the inaugural 2018 season of M-Net’s Dancing With The Stars SA. She has won many awards for her choreography including the FNB Vita Award, and a Standard Bank Ovation Award at the National Arts Festival for Cape Dance Company’s Blue. In addition, the school received a Standard Bank Ovation Award at the National Arts Festival for Bittersweet in 2013, which resulted in the production of Between The Lines the following year on the Arena Programme and at the inaugural Cape Town Fringe Festival. Debbie is committed to restoring, revitalising and aligning South African dance with the 21^st Century global trends of performance through sustainable, multi-pronged approach to performance excellence, diverse repertory relevant to current times, dance education, and professional development of dancers while preserving the traditions of classical ballet and academic dance in general.

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June 19, 2019June 26, 2019 by Sarafina Magazine Categories: Arts, Ballet, Cape Dance Company, Cape Town, Cape Town City Ballet, CEO, Conversation, Culture, Dance, Dancer, Director, Interview, Now Playing, Organisation, Performer, Photography, Production, Sarafina, Sarafina Magazine, South Africa, Uncategorized, Woman, WomxnTags: Advice, Amaranth, Artscape, Ballet, Ballet Dancer, Cape Dance Company, Cape Town, Cape Town City Ballet, CEO, Choreographer, Choreography, Conversation, Dance, Dancer, Debbie Turner, Interview, Photography, Sarafina Magazine, South Africa, Women 2 Comments

A Conversation with Lungiswa Plaatjies

Lungiswa Plaatjies is a musician, singer and composer. Born and raised in Langa Township in Cape Town, she started singing at the age of eight years old before becoming the lead vocalist of Amampondo. She has toured extensively around the world and released her first solo album, Lungiswa, in 2000. After spending time digging deeper into the foundation stones of African music and Xhosa dance (Umxhentso), Lungiswa released her second solo album, Unonkala produced by Don Laka. In 2002, she was nominated for Best Newcomer and Best Female Vocalist at the SAMA awards and was also nominated for two Kora awards. Since 2015, she has been working with Bos Theatre Productions from The Netherlands on an annual musical show called South African Road Trip. Her select theatre credits include; Heart of Redness, The Tempest for the Royal Shakespeare Company and The Flower of Shembe. Lungiswa can currently be seen on stage as the featured musician in Kunene and the King at the Fugard Theatre.

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May 14, 2019May 14, 2019 by Sarafina Magazine Categories: Arts, Cape Town, Conversation, Culture, Interview, music, Musician, Now Playing, Performer, Photography, Sarafina, Sarafina Magazine, Singer, Songwriter, South Africa, The Fugard, Theater, Theatre, Theatremaker, Uncategorized, Vocalist, Woman, Women, WomxnTags: Amampondo, Anthony Sher, Bos Theatre Productions, Cape Town, Conversation, Heart of Redness, Interview, John Kani, Kunene and the King, Lungiswa Plaatjies, mbira, music, Musician, Photography, RSC, Sarafina Magazine, Singer, South Africa, The Flower of Shembe, The Fugard Theatre, The Tempest, Theater, Theatre, Vocalist, Women 3 Comments

A Conversation with Naledi Majola

Naledi Majola is an actor, performance-maker and sound designer. In 2018, she was seen on stage in Tara Notcutt’s historic all-female production of The Taming of the Shrew and in Stream, a multimedia performance work led by Jennifer Steyn at the Baxter Theatre. She makes her feature film debut later this year in The Banana Splits. Her performance work, Where is the black samurai? debuted at Arcade, a durational live art platform curated by Gavin Krastin, and was most recently performed at the 2018 ICA Live Art Festival. Naledi also designs sound for performance, having recently done so for her own work, as well as AMES, written and directed by Andi Colombo in 2018 and the upcoming production of Tales from the Garden written by Ameera Conrad, which will run at the Baxter Theatre’s Masambe Theatre followed by a run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival later this year.
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May 9, 2019May 22, 2019 by Sarafina Magazine Categories: Actor, Actress, Art, Artist, Arts, Baxter, Cape Town, Composer, Conversation, Culture, Designer, Interview, music, Musician, Now Playing, Performer, Photography, Sarafina, Sarafina Magazine, Sound Design, Sound Designer, South Africa, The Baxter, Theater, Theatre, Theatremaker, Uncategorized, Woman, Women, WomxnTags: Actor, Actress, Ameera Conrad, Ames, Cape Town, Composer, Conversation, ICA Live Art Festival, Interview, Kathleen Stephens, music, Naledi Majola, Performance, Performance Artist, Photography, Sarafina Magazine, Sound Design, Sound Designer, Soundscape, South Africa, Stream, Tales from the Garden, The banana splits, The Taming of The Shrew, Theater, Theatre, Theatremaker, UCT, Where is the black samurai? 4 Comments

A Conversation with Lindy Abromowitz Sachs

Lindy Abromowitz Sachs is a performer and doctor. Having started her tertiary studies at UCT’s Opera School, she then changed tack completely and entered the medical world, graduating as a doctor six short years later. Whilst pursuing her medical career, she still managed to keep her love for theatre and performing alive by appearing in several films, commercials, as well as numerous musicals including Grease, The Sound of Music, Cats, Annie, District Six and the runaway hit Offbeat Broadway, which returns to Theatre on the Bay for its much anticipated fifth incarnation.

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April 24, 2019April 24, 2019 by Sarafina Magazine Categories: Actor, Actress, Arts, Cape Town, Comedy, Conversation, Dancer, Interview, Musical, Now Playing, Opera, Performer, Photography, Production, Sarafina, Sarafina Magazine, Singer, South Africa, The Fugard, Theater, Theatre, Theatre on The Bay, Theatremaker, Uncategorized, Vocalist, Woman, Women, WomxnTags: Actor, Actress, Anton Luitingh, Cape Town, Cheryl Abromovitz, Conversation, Dancer, Doctor, Entertainment, Kinky Boots, LAMTA, Lindy Abromowitz, music, Musical, Musical Theatre, Offbeat Broadway, Paul du Toit, Photography, Pieter Toerien, Singer, South Africa, Theater, Theatre, Theatre on The Bay, Vocalist, Women Leave a comment

A Conversation with Mariechen Vosloo

Mariechen Vosloo is a costume designer and actor. She received her BA Drama degree from Stellenbosch University in 2011. Mariechen has assisted designer Birrie Le Roux on various productions, some of which are West Side Story, Marat/Sade and The Inconvenience of Wings. Mariechen has also worked in the South African and international advertising and film industry. She was the costume supervisor on Christiaan Olwagen’s film Johnny is nie dood nie, and subsequently designed the costumes for Die Seemeeu and Kanarie, also directed by Olwagen. She was also costume designer for TV series Dwaalster and Die Spreeus. We sat down with her to chat about Die Seemeeu which arrives in select theatres on April 5th 2019. Continue reading →

April 3, 2019April 3, 2019 by Sarafina Magazine Categories: Actor, Actress, Advice, Arts, Cape Town, Conversation, Costume Designer, Culture, Designer, Film, Interview, Now Playing, Performer, Photography, Production, Sarafina, Sarafina Magazine, South Africa, Theater, Theatre, Uncategorized, Woman, WomenTags: Actor, Actress, Afrikaans, Cape Town, Chekhov, Christiaan Olwagen, Conversation, Costume, Costume Designer, Die Seemeeu, Die Spreeus, Dwaalster, Film, Interview, Johnny is nie dood nie, Kanarie, Marche Media, Movie, Photography, Sarafina Magazine, South Africa, Stellenbosch, Television, The Seagull, TV Leave a comment

A Conversation with Adele Blank

Adele Blank is a choreographer, dance instructor and Director of Free Flight Dance Company, which she formed in 1987. She has trained, performed, choreographed and taught extensively in classical ballet and contemporary dance both locally and abroad. Since the beginning of the millennium, Adele’s artistic reach has extended far beyond the realm of dance. She has been responsible for numerous local and international TV adverts, movies, operas, fundraisers and a host of industrial theatre productions. Whilst coaching and teaching, she has created for many companies and is very involved in community and outreach programmes. Adele is a recipient of the Arts & Culture Trust Lifetime Achievement Award for Dance. We sat down to chat with her about devoting her life to dance and directing her latest project, Blue Violin, which will be performed at Artscape for a limited run. Continue reading →

March 27, 2019March 27, 2019 by Sarafina Magazine Categories: Advice, Arts, Artscape, Ballerina, Ballet, Cape Town, Cape Town City Ballet, Conversation, Culture, Dance, Dancer, Director, Interview, Joburg, Johannesburg, music, Musical, Now Playing, Organisation, Performer, Photography, Production, Sarafina, Sarafina Magazine, South Africa, Television, Theater, Theatre, Uncategorized, Woman, Women, WomxnTags: Adele Blank, Advice, Artscape, Ballet, Blue Violin, Cape Town, Cecchetti, Choreographer, Contemporary Dance, Conversation, Dance, Dancer, Director, Free Flight Dance, Interview, Lifetime Achievement, Modern Dance, Musicals, Photography, So You Think You Can Dance, South Africa, Stage, Theater, Theatre, TV, Women 2 Comments

A Conversation with Christelle Dreyer

Christelle Dreyer is a dancer, graphic designer and performer. At a young age, she discovered her love and passion for dance. Christelle uses her unique body movements within dance styles varying from Contemporary dance to Ballroom and Latin dancing. As a Ballroom and Latin Dancer, she won numerous competitions. In 2007 she won first place in both Ballroom and Latin at the Holland World Championships. In working for Remix Dance Company, Christelle taught children as part of the Remix Integrated Dance Project with Nicola Elliott and Malcolm Black. In 2014, she performed as part of the UNI Global Union Women’s Conference. Partaking in the Axis Dance Company Intensive, Christelle found herself dancing and performing among dancers from across the world. Most recently she was seen acting in Marat/Sade directed by Jaco Bouwer at the Baxter Theatre. In 2017, she received the Cultural Affairs Award from the Western Cape Government for Contribution By Person With Disability To The Arts.

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March 20, 2019March 20, 2019 by Sarafina Magazine Categories: Actor, Actress, Advice, Arts, Cape Town, Choreographer, Conversation, Culture, Dance, Dancer, Interview, Performer, Photography, Sarafina, Sarafina Magazine, South Africa, Theater, Theatre, Uncategorized, Woman, Women, WomxnTags: Actor, Actress, Advice, Ballroom, Cape Town, Christelle Dreyer, Contemporary Dance, Contribution By Person With Disability To The Arts, Conversation, Creative, Cultural Affairs Award, Dance, Dancer, Designer, Freelance Creative, Graphic Designer, Interview, Jazzart, Latin, Marat/Sade, Photography, Sarafina Magazine, South Africa, Theater, Theatre, Women Leave a comment

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