Gregory Maqoma

Born in Soweto in 1973, Gregory Vuyani Maqoma became interested in dance in the late 1980s as a means to escape the political tensions growing in his place of birth. He started his formal dance training in 1990 at Moving Into Dance (MID). Maqoma has established himself as an internationally renowned dancer, choreographer, teacher, director and scriptwriter. He founded Vuyani Dance Theatre (VDT) in 1999 when he was undertaking a scholarship at the Performing Arts Research and Training School (PARTS) in Belgium.
Maqoma was Associate Artistic Director of MID from 2002 to 2006 and for the FNB Dance Umbrella Festival in 2010. He was Artistic Director of the Afro-Vibes Festival in the Netherlands and the UK from 2004 to 2010. Maqoma served on the dance committee of the South African National Arts Festival from 2011 to 2017 and curated the Main Dance Festival Programme in 2017. He has taught at various universities and schools in Africa, USA and Europe including, University of California, Bates College (USA), Bennington College (USA), University of Minnesota (USA), University of Cape Town (RSA), Ecole des Sables (Senegal) amongst others. Maqoma has created repertoire for different dance companies internationally, including, Ballet De Lyon, Ballet Black, Via Katlehong, amongst others. He was founding Chairperson of the Board of Sustaining Theatre and Dance Foundation (STAND) from 2020 to 2022.
Maqoma is a collaborator extraordinaire and has worked with different intergenerational artists on various projects, including Faustin Linyekula, William Kentridge, Akram Khan, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Kwame Kwei-Armah, and protégé Musa Motha.
Amongst the illustrious list of awards he has received, Maqoma was honoured by the French Government with the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Award 2017, World Dance Day Author 2020, Simon Nkoli Feather Award 2022 and The Artfluence Human Rights Champion Award in recognition of his remarkable career, courage, and commitment to social justice.