Ryan Hopkins |
Nosiphiwo Samente is a dancer, dance teacher, choreographer and a philanthropist. I have been in the dance industry for 15 years now. I was born in Cape Town and I was trained at Jazzart dance theater, dance has always been my first love from a tender age. I am very passionate, self driven, humble, resilient, kind, supportive and i stand very firm for what I believe in.
I am strong, bold, and brave and I exude so much confidence which has been build throughout my life of living.What inspired me to get into dance was the ability to express myself, without using words but using and telling stories through movement of my body and especially for someone who was shy to speak up. Dance became my voice studied trained and i was groomed at Jazzart dance theater, during my training programme which was for 3 years I also studied at UNISA and I obtained a BA.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR CLASSES WHICH ARE CURRENTLY UNDERWAY?
Oh my…these are going to be exciting times, challenging as well but very fruitful. I will be giving weekend dance workshops in different provinces in the country, the workshops will be about empowering women through dance, it will be about embracing our beautiful bodies, embracing or femininity, building our self confidence, building a safe space for women as we will also have discussions, bringing sexy back, something my ladies could do for their partners as well, but mostly making themselves feel good. I will be encouraging my women to wear their heels and something sexy and comfortable for the workshops, but also it is not compulsory.
I saw a great need to start empowering women though dance, because we always think dancing is for small build bodies, forgetting that it is very important to love ourselves regardless of our shapes and sizes. This movement is about building self confidence and self esteem within us women. These classes are about empowering each other as women. Women go through a lot of challenges and we get to a point where we doubt or forget our worth. My hopes are to create a safe space, a space where we love, support and encourage each other as women and stop bashing one another.
Before COVIID-19 which of course has been the extreme low blow for our industry. I have always had issues with how women are not taken seriously as choreographers/creators in our country. But that’s a topic for another day. But COVID-19 takes the trophy; i have never experienced such different emotions all at once. No support was granted to artists during this pandemic/lockdown, we had no income for over 5 months.I have been staying in Johannesburg for over 9 years and i accomplished so much in my career as an artist, not in a million years have I ever thought I would have to go back home to Cape Town because I was unemployed and of course it beyond my control.
My highs were definitely travelling around the world, working with various established choreographers and dancers across the globe. Developing my own language with my dance vocabulary, that was a huge achievement for me; i finally found what in was actually destined for, to inspire and empower women.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO YOUNG WOMEN WHO WANT TO PURSUE A CAREER IN DANCE?
Firstly, you need to believe and stand firm with your truth, know where you are coming from and where you are heading.Secondly work hard, don’t be too hard on yourself when things don’t go your way, it might take a while to see your flowers blossom, but always believe that everything happens in Gods times.Thirdly be passionate about your vocation, love and respect it so much, to a point that breaking your spirit will take something much stronger than COVID-19 lol.
And lastly humble yourself, be resilient, be kind, be generous and always support other fellow women.