The multi-talented creative vividly remembers how dealing with the frustrations of being forbidden to behave like any ordinary teenage girl, led her to discover her hidden talents. Born to strict and God-fearing parents, Vanessa as Tlhaolang is commonly known in the creative space, says the pressures of being a pastor’s kid weighed down heavily on her as she could not do everything she loved because she had to toe the line. Due to their status, it was evidently difficult for her parents to allow her to do everything she loved. Like any parents who hold significant positions in society, her parents obviously had high expectations of what their daughter had to do to reflect on how they raised her.
According to her, this weighed down heavily on her and caused her frustrations. The Ramotswa native said feeling the pressure, she decided to venture into something that would express her feelings. That is when she realised that she was good at dancing and that it helped her to unwind. She said she started dancing when she was doing Form 3 back in 2011, before joining a Thamaga-based group then called 306. “I loved dancing since I was a kid as it's more of expressing one’s true feelings and making other people happy. For me being a PK (pastor’s kid) it was difficult to convince my parents to allow me to do what I loved, so all the frustrations and overwhelming feelings I would let them out when I am dancing,” Vanessa said in an interview with Arts&Culture.
