Using performance art to tackle social issues
Art Twenty Four Academy started in 2008 with Maloi and four of his friends at the helm, the group has since grown in membership and they are currently developing and mentoring new talent.
Performance art group Art Twenty Four Academy held their monthly Unwind Sessions last Sunday afternoon at Protea Glen Hall in extension two.
The group performed three sets, one of which is a stage drama depicting the struggles youth faced in apartheid schools and how they continue to face in post-apartheid South Africa with a myriad of issues such as unemployment, drug abuse and teenage pregnancy.
The group performs what they call ‘edutainment’. While their main aim is to entertain, it is also important for them to have educational content embedded in it according to founder of Art Twenty Four Academy, Mlami Maloi.
Art Twenty Four Academy singer during her solo piece performance.
Maloi explains that when he first started he had just acquired his degree in Dramatic Arts and wanted to see how best he could bring his peers together to do more than what youth in Soweto are known for doing.
“We came together and asked ourselves ‘how can we enhance social living in [Protea] Glen’ so we walk the streets and gym so we can see what happens and put that on stage, educate people and have a dialogue with people,” he elaborated.
Attendees were also graced with a performance from Soweto based group Big Five and Sarafina Cast member and President of Cstahood, Nozipho Nguse, who also gave a motivational talk to the young men and women in attendance.
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Maloi says his main aim is to bring theatre to the ordinary people as theatre was originally thought to be for the learned.
“My motto in life is to take the rebellious child and giving them an activity. It’s about finding the ones people have given up on and giving them something to do because people turn to negativity because they have no alternatives. Let’s go into more of those spaces and find the rebellious child and give them an activity,” said Maloi.
Art Twenty Four Academy started in 2008 with Maloi and four of his friends at the helm, the group has since grown in membership and they are currently developing and mentoring new talent. The next Unwind Session will be held in November at Protea Glen Hall.
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