{"id":17015,"date":"2022-09-15T15:52:05","date_gmt":"2022-09-15T13:52:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/?p=17015"},"modified":"2022-09-15T15:52:06","modified_gmt":"2022-09-15T13:52:06","slug":"flatfoot-dance-company-dancer-mthoko-mkhwanzi-invited-for-residency-with-dance-company-in-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/blog\/2022\/09\/15\/flatfoot-dance-company-dancer-mthoko-mkhwanzi-invited-for-residency-with-dance-company-in-uk\/","title":{"rendered":"Flatfoot Dance Company dancer Mthoko Mkhwanzi, Invited For Residency With Dance Company In UK"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Durban\u2019s Flatfoot Dance Company has had a long relationship of exchange with ACE dance and music based in Birmingham in the UK. This has culminated Flatfoot dancer, Mthoko Mkhwanzi, being invited for a one-year residency with their professional company.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Mthoko-Mkhwanzi_DSC1900a.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"450\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Mthoko-Mkhwanzi_DSC1900a.jpg?resize=450%2C300&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Image of Mthoko Mkhwanzi\" class=\"wp-image-17016\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Mthoko-Mkhwanzi_DSC1900a.jpg?w=450&amp;ssl=1 450w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Mthoko-Mkhwanzi_DSC1900a.jpg?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Mthoko Mkhwanzi, a dancer with the FLATFOOT DANCE COMPANY has been invited for a one-year residency with ACE dance and music a touring company based in Birmingham UK.<br \/>(photo: Val Adamson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Mthoko leaves mid-September and is both overwhelmed by the opportunity but also up for the challenge. He says, \u201cI feel so humbled to have been asked to spread my dance wings like this and I know that I will carry the flag of both Flatfootand of South Africa. I am ready for this opportunity to grow my skills as a dancer and really thank ACE for inviting me\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mthoko hails from KwaMashu andstarted dancing with Flatfootin early January 2010 in its KwaMashu community project, the Siyakhula Dance Programme. In 2011 he was selected to travel with Flatfootto Zimbabwe for a culture exchange with CHIPOWA. In 2013 he was selected for the inaugural Flatfoot career pathing and skills development programme called the Advanced Dance Development programme (ADD FLATFOOT). In 2019, Mthoko was invited to join the main Flatfoot company as a full-time professional dancer and has done work with Lliane Loots, Sifiso Khumalo, Jabu Siphika and worked with recent guest choreographers to the company Fana Tshabalala, Yaseen Manuel and Vincent Mantsoe.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Mthoko-Mkhwanzi_DSC1918a.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"599\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Mthoko-Mkhwanzi_DSC1918a.jpg?resize=400%2C599&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Image of Mthoko Mkhwanzi\" class=\"wp-image-17017\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Mthoko-Mkhwanzi_DSC1918a.jpg?w=400&amp;ssl=1 400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Mthoko-Mkhwanzi_DSC1918a.jpg?resize=200%2C300&amp;ssl=1 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><figcaption>(photo: Val Adamson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Artistic director of Flatfoot, Lliane Loots says, \u201cThis is an amazing opportunity for Mthoko. The company will miss him and his unfailing work ethic but this is a chance to stretch and grow that many dancers only dream about. I am humbled that Flatfoot&#8217;s long years of community engagement work can have an outcome like this; that a young dancer can rise and triumph in this way\u201d. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>ACE dance and music is a touring company based in Birmingham UK and are internationally recognised leaders in the field of contemporary African and Caribbean dance. With a signature Afro-fusion style they are always pushing the envelope around Black British and Diaspora contemporary identity in the arts and are delighted to have Mthoko join the company for one-year professional residency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Iona Wait, ACE\u2019s rehearsal director and education officer, says \u201cMthoko is going to breathe new life into our work &#8211; we are so excited to have him!\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Durban\u2019s Flatfoot Dance Company has had a long relationship of exchange with ACE dance and music based in Birmingham in the UK. This has culminated Flatfoot dancer, Mthoko Mkhwanzi, being invited for a one-year residency with their professional company. Mthoko leaves mid-September and is both overwhelmed by the opportunity but also up for the challenge.&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/blog\/2022\/09\/15\/flatfoot-dance-company-dancer-mthoko-mkhwanzi-invited-for-residency-with-dance-company-in-uk\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Flatfoot Dance Company dancer Mthoko Mkhwanzi, Invited For Residency With Dance Company In UK<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17015\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}