WeeklySA_AdminDREAM: Returning to UJ as its dance artist in residence, the celebrated choreographer draws on three decades of creative practice for a new work exploring identity, spirituality and belonging…
By WSAM Reporter
For Vincent Sekwati Koko Mantsoe, dance reaches beyond movement and entertainment. It is a connection to his ancestors, an expression of identity and a practice rooted in the healing traditions of the family that raised him.
Those influences come together in Mpeyane’s Dream/Ipupo, a developing production that audiences can experience in a single performance at the University of Johannesburg’s Arts Centre on October 25. Mantsoe returns to UJ as its 2026 Artist in Residence for dance, following the premiere of Desert Poems at the university in April last year. His new creation revisits more than three decades of artistic practice, drawing earlier ideas into a fresh exploration intended for both the stage and the lecture room.
At its centre is a character uncertain about who he was, dreaming his way towards his ancestors, his spirits and his own path. The creative process remains open, with the residency allowing Mantsoe to explore how these ideas take physical and emotional form.
“This is a development process. There is nothing concrete yet,” he says. “I am trying to shape it like a dream, to tap into different ideas and see how they come out physically and emotionally.”
Rather than simply restaging earlier work, Mantsoe is refining and reinterpreting elements of his creative history. He is also composing the music and designing the set, with isiXhosa sounds helping connect the character’s dreaming to the spiritual world. “The music links to the spirituality, because this is who I am and where I come from,” he says. “I come from a family of sangomas. Without that, I would just be creating for the sake of creating.”
Sacred movement
Born in Soweto in 1971, Mantsoe grew up playing drums at healing ceremonies alongside his grandmother, aunt and mother. His early dance education also came through youth clubs, music videos and street dancing.
In 1990, he won a scholarship to Moving Into Dance Mophatong, the pioneering multiracial company founded by Sylvia Glasser. He later served as its associate artistic director from 1997 to 2001 before establishing his own company.
His Afro-fusion style brings together traditional African dance, contemporary and ballet technique, and Asian martial arts. His career has included solos such as Gula, Mpheyane, NTU and Skwatta, as well as creations for companies in the United States, Sweden and Britain.
At UJ, Mantsoe wants his developing work to offer students a case study of how an artistic practice evolves. The residency extends his investigation into teaching approaches drawn from sangoma ritual practice, while examining how traditional and contemporary forms can meet respectfully.
“These are sacred movements that I am using on stage and in rehearsal,” he says. “I have to treat them with respect, understanding where they come from and what the implications are.”
That responsibility also informs what he hopes audiences will take away from the performance.
“My work is not light. I want to penetrate and go deeper into the core,” Mantsoe says. “The ancestors are talking to me in different ways, and I portray that without guilt and without reservation. It goes beyond entertainment. People have to be moved by something higher than themselves.”
The first rendition of Mpeyane’s Dream/Ipupo will be presented at the Keorapetse William Kgositsile Theatre, UJ Arts Centre, on Sunday, October 25, 2026, at 3pm. Tickets cost R150 and are available through Quicket.
