Lindiwe dances through life
"I have always been passionate about the arts in general."
The dreams of Lindiwe Lekasapa, a dancer and arts enthusiast, were realised when she was recently appointed as a Junior Producer at the Joburg Theatre Company.
This appointment is a hands-on job where Lindiwe will be involved with all the practical aspects of theatre production in the city’s three theatres – Johannesburg, Roodepoort and Soweto.
“I couldn’t believe it when I received a call informing me I was the new Junior Producer at the Joburg Theatre Company, and I was starting work on the first day of Women’s Month,” Lindiwe said.
After matriculating, Lindiwe was unable to follow her dream of studying arts management at university because of financial constraints. She decided to join an arts community group instead and completed a short course in personal computing.
However, this was not what Lindiwe wanted to do, although it proved to be useful later on in her career. She secured a learnership in Performing Arts at the Moving into Dance Mophatong dance school in Johannesburg and also completed a short course in bookkeeping.
She completed her Level 4 Further Education and Training (FET) Learnership in Performing Arts in 2005.
“I’ve always been passionate about the arts in general and dance in particular. While dancing at Moving into Dance I desired to do more, which is when I applied for the reception post. Through determination I worked my way up to where I am now today. Nothing ever happens unless you make it happen,” she said.
Lindiwe has been the General Manager at the Dance Forum for the past five years. Through her involvement with various editions of the International Dance Umbrella Festival, Danse IAfrique Danse, the New Dance Festival and Arts Alive, she has gained a lot of experience in office and arts management, producing, and project and financial management.
Xoliswa Ndudeni-Ngema, CEO of the Joburg Theatre Company said, “Lindiwe’s skills and experience will prove invaluable in leading the organisation forward and in attracting and supporting world-class productions.”
She will be working closely with the Artistic Director and Executive Producer to host in-house productions, co-productions and tenant hires.
Lindiwe said the programme can be hectic and it is easy to overlook something important, which is why it is so important to have a junior producer assisting the Executive Producer. “I am a self-motivated person and hope to continue growing in both my personal and professional capacity. I’m hoping this new position pushes me to the next level and my contribution to the company is invaluable and takes it to the next level,” Lindiwe said.
For Lindiwe this has been an exciting three weeks in which she learned that no two days at the Theatre are the same. She said it’s a great opportunity for her to be part of a big institution where she will be exposed to different art forms.
She wants to attract new people to the city’s theatres and is looking forward to the challenge of doing so. At the moment, she is arranging a collaboration between the Joburg Theatre and the Market Theatre on a play entitled tiele Mosali eo o ile Mpha.
“A very important lesson to learn is that no one owes you anything. Stop looking for a pat on your shoulder and start moving mountains to achieve your dreams,” was Lindiwe’s closing comment.
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Also read:
Dancing girls are the West’s best
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