Nosipho Mkhize will be performing at Salute African Goddess at Alliance Française de Durban.

VISIONARY dancers, Nqubeko “Cue” Ngema and Nosipho Mkhize, are assembling a stellar line up of Durban-based multi-media creatives for an afternoon of poetry, music, dance, drama, visual art, painting and design.

Salute African Goddess will take place on Saturday, August 12 from 3 pm to 6 pm at the Alliance Française de Durban at 22 Sutton Crescent, Morningside as part of the country’s Women’s Month celebrations.

The line-up includes seasoned professionals, foreign nationals, emerging talent and fringe performers, all of whom plan to ensure the programme is interesting, innovative, fresh and meaningful.

“We want to salute and honour our women through our artistry, and to provide a platform for some really exciting performers and artists,” says Ngema, a 23-year-old post-graduate student from Durban University of Technology.

He studied drama and performance studies, specialising in dance and educational theatre and has been part of the Flatfoot Dance Company’s training programme.

Ngema, who is doing a year-long internship with Phakama Dance Theatre, has appeared in works at Jomba!, the Johannesburg Dance Umbrella and the Grahamstown National Art Festival.

Nqubeko “Cue” Ngema, photographed in The Gift at Fresha Festival in January, is one of the organisers of the Salute African Goddess at Alliance Française de Durban. PHOTO: Vanessa Cracknell

Mkhize obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Drama, Performance Studies and Music at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. She also trained in contemporary dance at the Flatfoot Contemporary Dance Training Company and learnt basic ballet techniques at the Mary-Anne Salvage Ballet School.

In 2014, she started the community arts project, Born to Dance Youth, now registered as Dance Life Africa, where she taught contemporary dance at the University of Zululand.

Like Ngema she is currently training with the Phakama Dance Theatre at the Playhouse.

To help fund the Salute African Goddess project, she bakes cakes and delicacies which Ngema and other friends sell.

Entry is R50 (R25 students with ID), which includes a free drink.

Nosipho Mkhize will be performing at Salute African Goddess at Alliance Française de Durban.

PHOTO: supplied

Nqubeko “Cue” Ngema, photographed in The Gift at Fresha Festival in January, is one of the organisers of the Salute African Goddess at Alliance Française de Durban.

PHOTO: Vanessa Cracknell