Tributes to celebrated contemporary dancer Dada Masilo
THE South African dance world mourns internationally acclaimed dancer and choreographer Dada Masilo, who died in hospital last weekend aged 39.
Masilo died unexpectedly after a brief illness, a spokesperson for her family said.
Dr Lliane Loots, artistic director and curator of the JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience at the Centre for Creative Arts (UKZN) paid tribute to an “extraordinary dancer” and woman who changed, shifted, and grew dance in South Africa.
“Best known for her iconic re-invention of the great ballet classics like Swan Lake and Giselle, Dada took her remarkable skill as a ballet dancer and found ways to meld this ‘troubled’ European dance form, with the rhythms and intentions of her own histories of African dance. This confluence was a re-imagining of not just narratives, but of how, we as South Africans, move, think and feel.
“Her numerous awards - that include being a Standard Bank Young Artist, the Bessie Head Award in New York, Prins Claus Next Generation Award (Netherlands) and the 2024 “Artist Icons in the City of Gold” - speak to a deeply successful career that also supported and grew the careers of the many dancers she worked with and trained.
“I remember her also for her incredible sense of humour and how she could combine a fierce commitment and work ethic, with the ability to find ‘the funny’ - making long rehearsals and tense situations simply fly away. In her small lithe dancing body, she carried the fire of the universe. She is dancing with the angels now – well, if they can keep up with her. We are a nation in mourning."
Born in Soweto, Masilo was a fearless rule-breaker, who brought African dance motifs to classic European roles in a career that spanned two decades.
"Deeply respectful of European and contemporary music traditions, but unafraid to go bare on stage and voice her own opinions, she effectively changed the shape and appearance of contemporary dance in South Africa," family spokesperson Bridget van Oerle said.
Among the most recent in a series of acknowledgements of her work, Masilo in September received the Positano Leonide Massine lifetime achievement award for classic and contemporary dance, which praised her as "powerful and topical".
Her revisited versions of the great classics of romantic ballet drew on African dance to speak of the society in which she lived and of tolerance across borders, the award announcement said.
"A brilliant light has been extinguished," the Joburg Ballet company said, praising Masilo's "creative force as a choreographer and her wisdom as a human being".
"Her groundbreaking work reshaped the world of contemporary dance, and her spirit will continue to inspire generations of artists and audiences," the University of Johannesburg's arts and culture department said.
The UK-based Dance Consortium, which toured with Masilo in Britain twice, called her death a "tragic loss to the dance world".
"Her fresh perspective, extraordinary presence and stunning creations wowed and inspired audiences and artists across the UK and around the world," it said.
In 2016, Masilo's "Swan Lake" was nominated for a New York Bessie Award and the following year her "Giselle" won Best Performance by the Italian Danza and Danza Award, the family statement said.
In 2018, she won the Netherlands’ Prince Claus "Next Generation" award, where she was described as an "extraordinary role model for young people and girls". - AFP