Vincent Mantsoe

Vincent Mantsoe hails from Soweto, South Africa. During his formative years he danced with youth clubs practicing street dances and trying to imitate the dance moves seen in music videos. At the same time he woke everyday to the sound of the drum his mother played to greet the Ancestors. A descendant of a long line of Sangomas (traditional healers) Mantsoe participated in traditional rituals involving the use of song and dance. It was not until he began his training at Johannesburg's Moving Into Dance Company that Mantsoe was able to merge these two distinct dance forms into his own style that he describes as Afro-fusion. Mantsoe's work draws on traditional African dance forms with a contemporary approach from modern, ballet and Asian forms such as Tai Chi, Martial Art and traditional Balinese dance.

Mantsoe has performed at international venues and festivals such as: House of World Culture (Berlin, Germany); across Africa; Dance Umbrella South Africa Johannesburg; Dance Umbrella (London, UK); Harbourfront Center (Toronto, Canada); National Arts Center (Ottawa, Canada) The HK Cultural Centre (Hong Kong, China); and in the U.S. at the Kennedy Centre WD, Walker Art Center (Minneapolis, MN), the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (Newark, NJ), Bates Dance Festival (Portland, ME), and Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival (Lee, MA) Japan Kyoto, Kyoto Art Center and Art complex, African Tour and many more.

Mantsoe is the recipient of the 1995 Standard Bank Young Artist of the Year Award; First Prize at Dance Encounters of Contemporary African Dance in Luanda, Angola; the 1996 FNB Male Choreographer of the Year; and the Fifth and Sixth Recontres Choreographiques Internationales awards for Independent Choreographers in 1996 and 1998 Paris France. In 1999 he received the FNB VITA awards for Choreographer of the Year and Most Outstanding Performance by a Male Dancer as well as the Prix de Peuple at the Festival International de Nouvelle Danse in Montreal Canada. In 2001, he won the FNB Vita Choreographer of the Year and Best Male dancer in the contemporary style.

In 1999, Mantsoe worked in Japan on the creation of "Traduction Simultanée", collaboration with Michel Kelemenis and Takeshi Yazaki, which was performed in Johannesburg, France and Tunisia, Mantsoe established a relationship with Japaness Audiences and dancers where he’s been teaching for the past 4 years. His work is featured in the documentary film "African Dance: Sand, Drum, and Shostakovich", by Ken Glazebrook and Alla Kovgan. Mantsoe was the Associate artistic Director and Resident Choreographer for 6 years with the Moving into Dance Company (Johannesburg, South Africa) and from 1997-2001 hew was the company’s Associate Artistic Director. Mantsoe has also created works for Dance Theatre of Harlem New York USA, Ballet Theatre Afrikan South Africa, Skanes Dans Teatre (Sweden), Inbal Dance Company of Israel and Coba Collective of Black Dancers Canada Toronto. Mantsoe was in residence at the Foundation Jean-Pierre Perreault in Montreal, Canada to create a new solo work NDAA.

Mr. Mantsoe spent 2 weeks in Zurich and Bern for the Sharp Sharp festival 10th years anniversary on Democracy in South Africa.