I have been given an opportunity to be part of a project in the South of France (Mirepoix). This project focuses on understanding the specificity of puppetry. How to use them to tell a story, to transmit messages and in the writing of dramaturgy. This will include sculpting, moulding and manipulation of puppets and how to infuse them in theatrical principles. The project deals with the theme of adolescence and how our childhood plays a big role in the adults we become.
My Beginning And The Ride To The Future
I have been given an opportunity to be part of a project in the South of France (Mirepoix). This project focuses on understanding the specificity of puppetry. How to use them to tell a story, to transmit messages, and in the writing of dramaturgy. This will include sculpting, moulding and manipulation of puppets, and how to infuse them in theatrical principles. The project deals with the theme of adolescence and how our childhood plays a big role in the adults we become. The aim is to raise awareness and exchange knowledge with the audience through performance.
My Beginning And The Ride To The Future
Mbali Ndlozi is a student at the University of Cape Town. She is currently doing her diploma in Theatre and Performance as a theatre maker. She did a two year course in acting and stage management at The Market Theatre Laboratory. In 2012 she was part of the production Fence that won an award for the best ensemble at The Grahamstown National Art Festival. She has had the privilege of working with Eric de Sarria in his production Un goût de millefeuille and Neusa Thomasi in her adaptation of L’avare de Moliere. Mbali was also featured in the documentary In Soweto that aired in Belgium. She continues on a voyage to find her voice as a young and upcoming theatre practitioner.
PERSONAL BRAND STATEMENT
My love for theatre comes from a place of unpleasant experiences and hardships. Theatre is healing or rather therapy for someone who is shy to vocalize their pain to other people. As I am on the verge of becoming a young professional, my work would be around telling stories of women whose voices are suppressed or not loud enough to be heard. Also, to tell stories of love as it is an umbrella to the person we become, the choices we make, the decisions we take and how we aspire to change the world in the name of unity. As a young female in South Africa I yearn to be heard as we live in a society that is ruled by patriarchy and capitalism, and where rape culture is a serious predicament affecting queer bodies and women. My contribution to the arts is to evoke consciousness, challenge social norms and understand the complexities of love, God and being an adult.
Milestones:
The Tipping Point – I reach this Milestone and my opportunity is A-GO!
Milestone 1: R12 000
Return flight tickets, which includes a visa.
Milestone 2: R20 000
I reach this milestone and I can pay for my accommodation in Mirepoix for 28 days.
Milestone 3: R22 000
Food – if I reach this milestone then I will have everything I need to make this trip a success.
I am young, inspired and motivated. Please help me get to France.
Mbali Ndlozi is a young women who dedicates her work to her mother. This is something that is very important because the struggles that she faced and sacrifices that were made by her mother inspired her love for art. Mbali’s work revolves around domestic violence, the torture that the female body goes through in the modern South Africa.
The project in France is an opportunity to for her to explore and interrogate the shift from childhood to adulthood. The trauma people encounter as children shapes the values and principles you live by as an adult.
The project is a platform to be creative, to grow as an art and to create connections.
She is young. Motivated. Inspired.