Gregory Maqoma

Born in Soweto on 16 October 1973, Gregory Vuyani Maqoma discovered dance in the late 1980s, whilst seeking a way to escape the political tensions that characterised his environment.

He began his professional training in 1990 with Moving Into Dance, where he became associate artistic director in 2002.

Throughout his career, Gregory Maqoma has established himself as one of the leading figures in South African and international contemporary dance. A dancer, choreographer, teacher, author, director and scriptwriter, he founded the Vuyani Dance Theatre (VDT) in 1999 whilst on a scholarship at the Performing Arts Research and Training School (PARTS) in Belgium, under the direction of Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker.

Renowned for the breadth of his artistic collaborations, in 2006 he worked notably with the choreographer Akram Khan and the London Sinfonietta on a piece set to Steve Reich’s music, Variations for Vibes, Pianos and Strings. That same year, he created Neon Flight for the South African Ballet Theatre, a piece which premiered in Russia in June 2006.

Today, Gregory Maqoma is internationally recognised for his choreographic work, which explores issues of identity, memory, history and social transformation through an artistic language deeply rooted in contemporary African realities.