Mthuthuzeli November

Mthuthuzeli November Senior Artist & choreographer of Nina: By Whatever Means.
Born in Cape Town, South Africa, Mthuthu started dancing at the age of 15 with the outreach programme, Dance For All. In 2011 he was awarded a scholarship to attend the Cape Academy of Performing Arts (CAPA), where he graduated with a Distinction. Mthuthu won a gold medal in the Contemporary category in the South Africa International Ballet Competition as a Junior in 2012, and a Senior in 2014. He has worked with Cape Dance Company under the direction of Debbie Turner, with choreographers including Bradley Shelver and Christopher Huggins. Mthuthu created his debut choreographic work in 2014 on the Cape Dance Company Junior Company. In 2015 he travelled to the UK to dance with Central School of Ballet’s third year touring company, Ballet Central, performing all over the country. He danced in a South African production of West Side Story before joining Ballet Black as First Year Apprentice in September 2015 and was promoted to Junior Artist in 2016 where he created roles in Arthur Pita’s Cristaux and Christopher Hampson’s Storyville. He made his first ballet for Ballet Black, Interrupted in July 2016. Mthuthu was awarded South Africa’s Emerging Artist prize at Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees for his solo work. In 2017 he was a lead dancer in the revival of Martin Lawrance’s Captured and created the role of The Wolf in Annabelle Lopez-Ochoa’s Red Riding Hood. Between 2019 and 2022, he has created roles in works by Martin Lawrance, William Tuckett and Gregory Maqoma, and collaborated with Cassa Pancho and the Company to create Say It Loud, a celebration of BB’s 20th anniversary in 2022. In 2017, Mthuthu was commissioned by the Cape Dance Company to create a new work, funded by the National Arts Council of South Africa, which premiered at Artscape Theatre in Cape Town. In 2018, Mthuthu created a solo for Precious Adams of English National Ballet, for the Emerging Dancer competition. In 2019, Ballet Black commissioned him to create Ingoma, his first UK main stage work that has toured the UK and Europe that won both the Olivier Award and a Black British Theatre Award for Best Dance Production. This was followed by WASHA: The Burn From The Inside (a co-commission between Ballet Black, The Grange Festival and Studio Wayne McGregor). He also created and danced in a pas de deux for Ballet Black’s appearance with British Grime artist, Stormzy for Glastonbury 2019, and was promoted to Senior Artist in 2020. During the pandemic, he created Ballet Black’s first short film, Like Water, which went on to win seven film awards. In 2021 his postponed live work for Ballet Black, The Waiting Game, was staged in the UK. He has created ballets for Cape Town Opera, Cape Town City Ballet, The Grange Festival, further commissions for English National Ballet’s Emerging Dancer Competition, Northern Ballet, Tanz Ensemble for Luzerner Theater, Ballet Central and Rambert School. For film he created My Mother’s Son for Fall For Dance North and Burn From the Inside for Ballet Black.