Kalima matures like wine
Dumisani Ncube | Friday May 26, 2017 15:45
The 26-year-old, who is part of Mophato Dance Theatre as the artistic director, sat down with Arts & Culture to reflect on how he manages to be the artistic creative he is and how he became the dancer he is today.
“Before every production that I do as a solo artist or with Mophato, we go through intense research of the subject matter that we will be presenting on stage. We gather facts and see how we can present them through dance,” Mipata said.
He noted that the research includes oral history, travelling to different places and learning about different cultures and the people.
Through his contemporary dance moves, Mipata manages to convey a story to the audience, which has made him one of the most refined dancers at the moment.
Mipata explained that as a dancer he has mastered the art of telling a story through body movement.
In all his performances, Mipata always stands out and gives his best.
Despite being an artistic dancer for the renowned Mophato Dance Theatre, he started off as a hip-hop dancer.
“It all started when I was around nine-years-old. My father loved music and he used to buy Michael Jackson videos that I used to watch over and over again, imitating him till I mastered his and other dance moves,” Mipata.
The love for dance slowly became Mipata’s passion as he continued dancing into his teen years till he watched Chris Brown videos that influenced him to be a hip-hop dancer.
Just like most teen dancers, he and his friends formed a hip-hop dance group called This Is Africa (TIA), which was well-known around English medium schools where they staged performances.
“This was when Andrew Kola, the Mophato leader saw me dance. I think it was at Maru-A-Pula School and he asked me to be part of a flash mob that he was coordinating and I joined him,” he recalled.
After seeing the talent that young Mipata had during the flash mob, Kola recruited the teenage dancer into his ensemble and mentored him.
“He saw I was quick to grasp different dance moves. Andrew taught me Afro fusion, contemporary and traditional. At first it was difficult because I still carried that hip-hop posture and element in me,” he said.
While under Kola’s mentorship, Mipata was scouted by South African dance troupe, Vuyani Dance Ensemble whose mentoring saw him perform at the 2014 Metro Awards as one of the back up dancers alongside Mandoza, Trompies, Uhuru and Da Les.
“Six months down the line, I had to return home. Due to the intense training I had received, it felt like I had spent five years in South Africa.”
Upon his return, Kola engaged him to be a rehearsal director then later got promoted to artistic director.
As an artistic director, he worked on various Mophato Dance Theatre productions such as Pula and Borwa.
With all the theatrical dance knowledge that he has, Mipata sharesd it with his peers through different forms such as dance lessons and directing various productions.
He has become a professional dancer meaning that dance is his nine-to-five job. If not performing he is conducting dance lessons.
Apart from dance, Mipata is also a screen actor and a rapper. He featured on the drama series Ntwakgolo and has recorded tracks with his older brother, Ryan Blaze.