Mamela Nyamza’s global triumph, ‘Hatched Ensemble’, comes home for two nights only

In isiXhosa,mamelameans to listen, focus, take heed or simply “look here!” It is also the name of a globally recognised performance artist Mamela Nyamza. True to its etymology, the name functions as a directive for the world to attend to Nyamza’s narratives of dance and theatre. An unending stream of accolades serve as evidence that the world is indeed listening.Bamamele(“They are listening”).

Nyamza was recently awarded the 2026 Biennale Danza Silver Lion and the Stand Foundation’s Mohlopi Award. In 2022 she won the Marraines Fiddo Award at the Festival Inter-national de Danse de Ouagadougou. She is an international top-five finalist for the prestigious 2026 Salavisa European Dance Award.

When I spoke to Nyamza last week, she had just touched down in France, where her team were preparing for a sold-out week’s run ofHatched Ensembleat the Maison de la Danse in Lyon. Performing for 1 800 people a night, as part of the Dance Reflections festival by Van Cleef & Arpels. “Hatched Ensemblepremiered in Makhanda, Grahamstown, at the National Arts Festival in June 2023.

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It was an expansion of my 2007 solo work,Hatched. Today, I am no longer on stage. “I remain in the wings as choreographer, presenting an ensemble of dancers I handpicked in 2023.

The oldest is 46, the youngest 19. This piece has matured and it has travelled the world quite extensively,” Nyamza said. The production has toured internationally to more than 17 countries and festivals, among them the UK, Italy, Russia, Germany, The Netherlands, Canada, Norway, Mozambique, the US and most recently France.

The cast includes opera singer Litho Nqai and African Instrumentalist Given Mphago. “Hatched Ensemblefeatures 10 ballet-trained dancers from different ethnic backgrounds. On stage they convey deeply personal and challenging issues of tradition and their evolving experiences of gender norms in dance classics, until they ultimately realise their own respective true identities. “The production speaks to anyone who has felt conflicted about their own identity and where they belong in the status quo.

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