Dance is the foundation of the enduring friendship between two of South Africa’s legendary dance makers, Gregory Maqoma and Vincent Mantsoe. Growing up in Orlando and Diepkloof, Soweto, the two formed the dance group The Joy Dancers to escape apartheid in the 1980s. Their style was a blend of Michael Jackson-inspired moves and African dance.
A newspaper advert for dance auditions that would later get them into Moving into Dance (MID) — SA’s longest-running dance institution and company — sealed how dance would clasp their hands together for an endearing brotherhood. “Vincent was hesitant at first, and I had to force him to come to the auditions,” Gregory recalls.
Bonds Forged in Dance
At MID, Vincent immersed himself fully in contemporary dance , while Gregory danced part-time as he was expected to finish school and study further. A knee injury later forced Gregory to swap the dance studio for office work at an insurance company.
Vincent’s graduation solo, Gula, and the resulting group work, Gula Matari — inspired by bird movements from his grandmother’s backyard and the 1970 Quincy Jones record of the same name, respectively — won him his first international prize at the inaugural African Contemporary Dance Choreographic Encounters and Competition in Luanda, Angola, in 1997. He invited Gregory to join him for an eight-week tour of the continent.
“As it happened, I pulled him into dance and he, in turn, also pulled me back into it,” says Gregory.
From there, the two went on to carve distinct identities within the landscape of SA contemporary dance.
Crafting a Language of Movement
Gregory found his voice after studying at Belgium’s Performing Arts Research and Training School (P.A.R.T.S) and forming the Vuyani Dance Theatre with Shanell Winlock-Pailman in 1999. His early work is characterised by the concept of trilogies, which include the notable Rhythm 1 2 3 (1999), Rhythm Blues (2001), and Rhythm Colour (2002).
He collaborated with Vincent, the DRC’s Faustin Linyekula, and British-Bengali Akram Khan on his solo Beautiful Me, which is part of a trilogy of works including Beautiful — a duet with Winlock-Pailman — and Beautiful Us.
Gregory sought to amplify his messages with his trilogies, as he believes themes are interlinked and that problems cannot be solved in the period of one project. His movement language was shaped first by observing the dance of mine workers who lived in a hostel near his home. He took the rhythms of traditional dance, such as indlamu, iscathamiya and Basotho dance, and mixed them with the American pop culture influences of the time to create his own cultural concoction. Informed by his training, this evolved into a deeper excavation of the body as a moving archive of history, heritage, identity and politics, coined into a technique called Pulse.
“Pulse, as a theory, manifests from the body being pushed to its maximum limit. The pulse being the heartbeat that invigorates and awakens the senses of the body. It is about the internal processing and processes of the body and emotions with ancestral lineages; awakening and deepening your senses to find depth in movement,” he explains.
Dance as Spiritual Practice
Vincent’s work, by contrast, is a spiritual undertaking rooted in respect. As a descendant of sangomas (traditional healers), he straddles ritual with technique, mastering a balance between immersion and control for both self-exploration and social commentary. His dance ethos is gleaned from the rituals of song, dance, and drumming practised by his grandmother, mother and two aunts. With their permission, he transposes the ceremonial elements — such as connecting with ancestral spirits and going into states of trance — onto the stage.
His time at MID opened opportunities to tour his work with the company throughout Africa, Europe, Australia, Canada, and Asia. He developed a deep affinity with the cultural ways of the Aboriginal people of Australia and the Japanese, whose influences form part of his signature. Among his notable works are Hanano Blessing of the Earth (1995), the first FNB Dance Umbrella Young Choreographers’ commissioned work, and Men-Jaro (1996), created during his tenure as Standard Bank Young Artist Award winner for Dance.
Vincent moved to France and formed his French company, Association Noa, in 2005. He returns home for regular performances. Koba is a dance technique he created, fusing indigenous African dance, martial arts, and contemporary movement. It gets its source from bending to the ground for spiritual grounding.
“Koba explores the physical meditation and spiritual evolution of a dancer, fostering the realisation of their complete potential. The technique serves as the fundamental basis of self-discovery, encapsulated by the question ‘O mang/Who are you?’ and rooted in the spiritual practices of sangoma healers,” he says.
Zo! Mute at Afrovibes 2025
Gregory and Vincent’s Zo! Mute — a double bill of works — headlines the Afrovibes Festival happening from 2 to 12 October in the Netherlands.
The festival was started by South African drag artist Raymond Vuyo Matinyana in 1999 as a way to honour the artistic legacies of South African expats such as Miriam Makeba and to bring South African culture abroad. Gregory was the festival’s artistic director from 2004 to 2010, and under his guidance, it grew to engage with works from all over Africa and the diaspora.
“It’s works that push boundaries. The festival has become a window and a focus on the culture and politics of the continent,” he says.
The 2025 theme explores legacy, and Zo! Mute encapsulates Vincent and Gregory’s dance philosophies. It taps into the formative essence of their dance-making and takes it forward. Contextually, it is a commentary on human sacrifice and the spiritual power of mankind, featuring dancers from the Vuyani Dance Theatre.
“Zo! Mute is the first collaboration that we have done together,” Vincent says.
His piece, Zo!, explores human nature by mimicking animal movements. “It was important to reimagine how I started and to make sure the dancers understand that the responsibility of a creator is also understanding where the work comes from. They have to cultivate this information, which is about dance and the spirituality of the movement.”
Gregory’s Mute, meanwhile, interrogates the muted state, translating his thoughts on the political killings of whistle-blowers into a physical message.
Vincent, who debuts at Afrovibes this year, will also showcase the work Izilo, which will travel to Canada.
Dates to Remember
For Zo! Mute
- 2 October — Bijlmer Parktheater, Amsterdam
- 9 October — Frascati, Amsterdam
- 10 October — Stadsschouwburg, Utrecht
- 11 October — Stadsschouwburg, Haarlem
For Izilo
- 3 October — Bijlmer Parktheater, Amsterdam
- 9 October — Stadsschouwburg, Utrecht
Izilo will make its Ontario premiere as part of Dance Immersion’s 2025-2026 season at the Meridian Arts Centre in North York, Canada, from 10 to 15 November.
