Jay Pather

Jay Pather (19**-) Actor, dancer, teacher and choreographer.

Training
He was a Fulbright scholar at New York University with a MA in theatre and dance.

Career
Became a member of the JazzArt Theatre Company in Cape Town in 19** and in 199* became director of KwaZulu Natal based Siwela Sonke Dance Theatre,

Has directed and choreographed over one hundred productions nationally as well as internationally in India, Angola, Madagascar, London, Germany, Australia, Sri Lanka and New York. Pather has created large scale opening works for the Commonwealth Heads of State Conference, the World Economic Forum and the International Convention Centre in Durban.

In 2005 he visited Havana on a government delegation investigating cultural exchange with Cuba.

Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance
He has appeared in Medea (1994) and did the choreography for As You Like It (2009).

Pather has also conceived and directed a range of commissioned works. These include A South African Siddhartha and Home commissioned by the Grahamstown National Arts Festival, and Ahimsa Ubuntu commissioned by Sonia Gandhi and the South African High Commission in India.

He receiveda commission from the FNB Dance Umbrella to create a full length work entitled The Beautiful Ones Must Be Born which was performed at the Constitution Hill in Johannesburg and at the International Writers Festival in Durban in 2004/5.

Home, a dance-drama choreographed for the Grahamstown Festival by Jay Pather in 19**.

Awards, etc
A recipient of several regional FNB Vita Awards for Best Choreography.

In 2004 Pather received a Brett Kebble Art Award for his installation performance Kitchen.

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