East End Spotlight - Mafa
Photo Bruce Zinger
“I believe you must dance what your soul wants to express.”
Thank you for the Artist Highlight East End Arts, just in time for Black History Month!
Mafa Makhubalo was featured in the February East End Spotlight, a monthly news piece where they highlight a series of east end artists, arts organizations, creative spaces & professionals.
What are you excited about for the future of your arts practice?
I am excited to continue to develop a unique and innovative foundation that fosters the African-Canadian Contemporary aesthetic and provides a safe space for non-western trained contemporary dancers and dancers of colour to voice their concerns, share their opinions and acquire knowledge about different ways of approaching, curating and presenting African Contemporary in diverse dance forms (Afro-House dance, Urban street dance, Caribbean folk dance, African contemporary, African tradition and African contemporary music).
My practice strives to break the culture of silence surrounding African Contemporary, Urban Street dance, dancers of colour and African music, all which are involved in making Toronto a diverse, accessible and inclusive dance landmark that is often neglected and diminished in the domain of the culture of contemporary in Toronto and Canada.
Through my practice l present a visual perspective on the evolution of multi- identity of diverse dance practices across Toronto, demonstrating how African-Canadian artists and non-western trained contemporary dancers in Toronto have examined and represented historical and contemporary post-colonial themes of African traditional through their professional development.
My practice aesthetics serve as a platform for African-Canadian artists and non-western contemporary dancers to develop a technical skill, find intersections of technique, refine movement vocabulary, vary ways of approaching African-Contemporary aesthetics, and strengthen networking and professional development opportunities in Toronto and abroad.