When recalling how his love for dance began, Mthuthuzeli November tells the story of how, as a young street dancer – specialising in Kwaito and isiPantsula and dancing barefoot outside a shebeen – people would throw 50 cents at him. He would take the money and put it back in the jukebox so he could just keep dancing. It’s a story of profound passion. That untainted devotion, together with the soul of his identity, drives the phenomenal dance works he stages for local and international audiences. He shares this with his brother Siphesihle, who embarks on a new journey after being a principal dancer with the National Ballet of Canada.
Born in Zolani – a township in Ashton, outside Cape Town – Mthuthu (as he’s also known) started dancing at 15 with the outreach programme Dance For All, where his first ballet teacher would ask him to choreograph some Kwaito moves that would be blended with ballet. This fusion of worlds laid the foundation for his dance practice, which integrates classical ballet with his contemporary and African dance training. Mthuthu attended the Cape Academy of Performing Arts and danced with Cape Dance Company under the direction of Debbie Turner.
He joined London’s Ballet Black in 2015, for which he choreographed the Laurence Olivier Award-winning dance production Ingoma. He choreographed Fools – based on R.L. Peteni’s 1976 novel Hill of Fools – for Northern Ballet’s Three Short Ballets series in 2024. He was awarded the prestigious Benois de la Danse Award for Best Choreography in 2025, firmly establishing himself as a sought-after voice in contemporary ballet. He joined Charlotte Ballet in North Carolina, US, as resident choreographer at the same time.
He was recently back home to choreograph his first full-length work, The Bacchae: An African Choral Ballet , a collaboration between the University of Johannesburg (UJ) and Joburg Ballet. The production, which runs from 3–12 July, is an original ballet inspired by Euripides’ iconic Greek tragedy.
Next up, he choreographs Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, inspired by the historic dancing plague of 1518, for Germany’s Staatstheater Nürnberg Season 26/27.
YLA: What was it like being home and creating new work in The Bacchae: An African Choral Ballet?
Mthuthuzeli: It was beautiful and terrifying because a lot of my work exists outside of home. I’m grateful to have worked with one of the best ballet companies on the continent. Creating this new work was eye-opening in terms of the high level of talent that exists here at home.
YLA: You have mentioned Fools as one of your favourite works. Why is that?
Mthuthuzeli: It’s actually the only work of mine that I can watch from beginning to end and not cringe. I love the music and the dances. The company I worked with is brilliant at what they do. As a reimagining of a South African novel, it was the first time I was able to represent a South African story with people who are not South African and make it feel resonant. I would love to one day put it on a South African stage.
YLA: What scares and excites you about choreographing Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring for Staatstheater Nürnberg?
Mthuthuzeli: I start my work with Nürnberg straight after The Bacchae. I have two weeks with them in July and will go back in November, leading up to the premiere on 12 December. In between that, I’ll be fulfilling my duties as resident choreographer for Charlotte Ballet. They’re performing one of my works this season: From Africa with Love.
I look forward to The Rite of Spring because the music is iconic. As a choreographer, a lot of my works exist with music that I have created. So this will be a test. It’s a big piece of work for anybody to tackle. To attach your name to such an iconic piece is a huge task. That scares me. But I’m excited because I’m working with some of my favourite people. My team always holds me tight, and we move together.
YLA: What has going independent as a choreographer taught you in the last two years?
Mthuthuzeli: It has taught me that there are a lot of stories in dance that need to be told. Stories that exist from my world as a South African, where I come from, and where we are hoping to go. It has also taught me how necessary it is to have Black voices in spaces that may not always be diverse. In most of the places I work, I’m either one of the first or the only one who has ever been. So there’s always a huge amount of pressure to deliver the best work that I can in the hope that it will open doors for more people who look like me. It’s reminded me how much I love dance, and I’m grateful to be where I am.
• Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring premieres in the More New Ballet Russes programme for the Staatstheater Nürnberg Season 26/27 on 12 December 2026 and runs until 4 February 2027.
• From Africa with Love performances form part of Charlotte Ballet’s Black Box Series from 2–17 October 2026.
