Freelance Artist | Smangaliso Ngwenya

Hello,

a bit about me:

Smangaliso Ngwenya is a dancer, performer, writer, director, choreographer, videographer and founder of Isifiso SakaGogo Performance Theatre (founded in 2020). The essence of all his offerings and, in essence, Isifiso Sakagogo, is rooted in dance and movement to enliven embodied roots, knowledge and practice.

He acquired his first traces of dance and movement training from First Physical Theatre Dance Company while completing his Bachelor of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University (2013-2016). During this time, he performed at the National Arts Festival in Nomcebisi Moyikwa’s ovation award-winning Watlz (2015) and Kamogelo Molobye’s Ga(y)me(n)Play (2016), as well as being a director of photography for Mark Freeman’s “dancedance/Revolution” (2016).

Then, he began his journey with Vuyani Dance Theatre in 2017, where he started as an aspirant and later progressed, toured (nationally and internationally), trained and choreographed his path to becoming a senior dancer in 2019. To date, he has choreographed eleven works: “Mask-your-linearity” (2017), “Dictated Democracy” (2018) which grew into a duet alongside award-winning poet and writer Solly Ramatswi (2021), Standard Bank Ovation award-winning and internationally screened screendance "F-R-A-G-M-E-N-T-E-D Scribbles" (2020), "Glare" (2020), "Home?’" (2020), Descent (2021) by Jake Natane, Evelyn (2023), F-R-A-G-M-E-N-T-E-D (2024), and a triology of two solo works titled “Solitude: Glaring” (2025) and “Solitude: In Weighting” (2025) and one ensemble “Solitude: Glaring” (2025).

To better understand the cultural and creative industries, Ngwenya completed a Master of Arts in Cultural Policy and Management in 2020 at the University of Witwatersrand. He has directed the award-winning “Ithemba” by Thulisile Binda, “Mtwan’Omntu” by Thulisile Binda and Xolisile Bongwana, as well as “Inkosazana” by Lungile Mahlangu and Thulisile Binda.

Experiential practice-based and practice-led learning, modes of knowledge production and research are the pinnacle of Ngwenya’s research and practice. As a result, he has facilitated dance, movement and dance fitness classes in spaces such as the University of Witwatersrand (2019-), Vuyani Dance Theatre (2019), and The First Physical Theatre Company (2015-2016).

He has facilitated learner-centred learning, curriculum development, creative, training and choreographic processes as an Education and Training officer at The Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative (2022-2023). His highlights encompass his journey with the University of Witwatersrand's third-year Physical Theatre course, where, since 2019, he has lectured and facilitated choreographic processes (solo and ensemble works), movement, physical theatre and screendance at the University of the Witwatersrand. Lastly and vividly integral, in 2022, he performed in “Barena… Reimagined”, re-choreographed by the late David April from Vincent Mantsoe's 1998 ''Barena”. This collaboration initiated his current focus on growing his practice through embodied, practice-led creative work and research, as well as his current studies and creative processes.

Photo visually documented by David April.