Lungelo Ngamlana

Lungelo Ngamlana (1975-). Choreographer, dancer, actor and director.

Bopgraphy

Born in Nyanga, Cape Town, where he started out in 1983, as a traditional Xhosa, Zulu and pantsula dancer in the Manyanani Dance Workshop.

Ngamlana trained at UCT School of Dance.

In 2007 the Royal Opera House hosted Lungelo as part of the International Dance Fellowship where he worked with different companies in London as part of their outreach programme for three months.

Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance

Lungelo teaches at NYU annually and before joining Isango Ensemble he worked as a teacher, performer, and choreographer with many dance and theatre groups, both at home in South Africa and internationally.

As choreographer/assistant director

Choreographer and associate director for Isango Portobello and Isango Ensemble. He joined the company in 2007 and has been the choreographer for all subsequent Isango Ensemble productions. Prior to joining Isango, he was hosted by the Royal Opera House for the International Dance Fellowship in 2007. His theatre credits include: The Magic Flute – Impempe Yomlingo (Fugard Theatre, 2010), A Christmas Carol - iKrismas Kherol, The Mysteries – Yiimimangaliso, Aesop’s Fables, The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists – Izigwili Ezidlakazelayo, Venus and Adonis, La Bohème, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Carmen, A Man of Good Hope, SS Mendi – Dancing the Death Drill, St. Matthew Passion and Treemonisha.

Other choreographic work includes Vooma (with Zip Zap Circus, Jikeleza and the Hout Bay Music Project). He has also worked on collaborative dance projects with Jikeleza, Cape Academy of Performing Arts and the Zama I Dance School.

Other credits include choreography for the 2006 Heritage Day celebrations and an educational project about Robben Island performed in schools. He has worked with local companies Theatre for Africa, Dance for All, Manyanani Dance Workshop and Myth Productions.

Lungelo was senior teacher, choreographer and assistant director of the Jikeleza Dance Project in Hout Bay for seven years. In April 2008 he choreographed An Order of Passage at The Spier Festival and in 2010, he choreographed Red Winter in Gugs at the Baxter Theatre. He was assistant choreographer and a performer at the opening of the IPL at Newlands Stadium, Cape Town.

As dancer/actor

As dancer/actor Lungelo has performed in Die Fledermaus, Pearl Fishers, Aida, l'Tongo, Mountain People and Urban Expression directed by Nicholas Ellenbogen. For Bound Apart, directed by the late Mavis Taylor, and The Piano Player (film) he was both movement choreographer and performer.

Sources

The Star, 11 November 2008.

IMDb [1].

https://amp-worldwide.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Treemonisha_Info-Deck.pdf

https://www.isangoensemble.africa/the-team

https://www.thefugard.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/the-fugard-programme-2010.pdf

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