
Projects/Artists
Vincent Mantsoe
Dancer, Choreographer, Educator
"His choreography combines traditional African dance with contemporary, Aboriginal, Asian, Indian and Balinese influences, and embraces ballet, Tai-chi and various martial arts, to forge a personal afro fusion style. A multiple prize winner, Vincent Mantsoe has an international career, particularly in Japan, in the United States and in Canada."
Sources : V. Mantsoe ; M.- C. Vernay, “Vincent Mantsoe: “Transmettre un message social de rebellion”, Libération 2 July, 1997 ; Article in the “City Press” in August 2012
Some of
Vincent Mantsoe's amazing stories:
Learning Through Arts & Athletics

Through the culture of dance and sports such values as discipline, hard work, dedication, focus, excellence, tolerance and maturity are strongly reinforced. I believe the arts and sports have the ability to transcend and transform. During my teaching experiences with children, I have witnessed the transformative effects of both disciplines. I am hoping to teach American tap, jazz, contemporary dance and various sports principles I have acquired playing field hockey since junior high school. I want to teach and also learn about their cultures and share elements of mine.

Global Activism
The goal of this project is two-fold: (1) To travel to South Africa to explore and learn about the lives of the Black Mambas Anti-Poaching Unit, and (2) exploring the ways in which movement and song can assist in the conservation of the South African elephant.
“The Black Mambas, the world's first all-female anti-poaching unit, and, together with 30 other local women, they are saving South Africa's endangered elephants and rhinos…. The Balule Private Game Reserve, a protected wildlife area spanning nearly 100,000 acres on the western border of South Africa’s world-famous Kruger National Park. Each month, every Black Mamba spends 21 days straight patrolling Balule by foot or jeep—four hours at dawn and four hours at dusk—in search of snares, human tracks, sounds of gunshots, and other suspicious activity”. (Goyanes, Cristina, October 12, 2017, for National Geographic).
The award-winning nonprofit, which launched in 2013, has significantly reduced incidents of snaring and poaching by as much as 76 percent, according to their website. Their success has garnered global attention.
What the Black Mambas lack in weapons, they make up in skill, teamwork, and gumption. They are highly trained. The three months of required training for entry include physical exercises, such as running a minimum of three miles daily, and classroom work, such as learning surveillance practices, compliance techniques, and how to use walkie-talkies. The last month is the most rigorous, focusing on survival tactics in the bush, including building shelter and functioning without food or water.
Through their stories, exercises, adventures, discipline, determination, perseverance, hard work, teamwork, cooperation, collaboration, and insight, we will learn about these activists who are global citizens.
LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT MY MOTHER: STORIES OF CARIBBEAN WOMEN

Several years ago, a childhood friend, her mother, my mother and self-were sitting around talking and laughing one evening. In that conversation, my friend and I were tickled at stories and antidotes our mothers shared with us. Our relationships being what they were, the evening could not conclude without our mothers giving us a full assessment of us as individuals and all that was necessary for us to have successful lives! Everything from the places where we hung out, the way we wore our hair (a big one), the men we dated, the ones we needed to meet and marry, their views of “black Americans”, the importance of education on and on… Their long laundry list of suggestions made my friend chime in, “no one would believe what our mothers say to us about us!” Whereupon I stated I should get some of my friends and say to them, “hey, hey, let me tell you about my mother and what she thinks about her daughter.” My friend then stated, you know, “you should write a play about this because no one would believe it”, (more laughter!) From that point, an idea was born.