Eastern Cape pair win major awards
TWO high school pupils have shown that the Eastern Cape is an important breeding ground for new talent in the performing arts by each winning a sought-after national scholarship.
The Arts & Culture Trust (ACT) in association with the Dramatic, Artistic and Literary Rights Organisation (Dalro) and Nedbank awarded three scholarships totalling R315000 following this week's national finals.
Six contenders from around South Africa were in the running, with Port Elizabeth's Usisipho Nteyi going on to take second place. She received a scholarship to the value of R105000, while East London's Mbasa Soga walked away with the R60000 third place scholarship.
Katlego Nche, a young dancer from the Mayibuye Arts Centre in Kimberley, was the overall winner who claimed the main bursary of R150000.
The Eastern Cape also had another finalist, Mphumzi Nontshinga, of Stirling High School in East London.
A delighted Nteyi, 18, a Grade 12 pupil at Alexander Road High, said she would use the scholarship to study musical theatre at the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) next year.
Reflecting on a week of intense rehearsals before the finals at the University of Johannesburg Arts Centre on Monday, the promising young actress and dancer said the experience had been tough on her emotions.
"There were times that I wanted to give up as I did not think I was going to make it. Now that I have done this I hope to be an inspiration for other people in Port Elizabeth to take part in future and seek exposure."
Nteyi won the best actress award for the play Mistaken at Alexander Road High School in 2011. The next year she appeared in Evita, directed by Robin Williams, then went on to dance in To the Pointe and Queen of Dance. She also appeared in productions like Back to the 80's, Hairspray, Honk and Noises off!
Soga, 18, of Selborne College in East London, said his scholarship would allow him to "do what I love with every fibre of my being".
"Being granted the opportunity to apply myself wholly instead of worrying about funds leaves greater room to participate in events and local productions that I may have missed," he said.
The Grade 12 pupil had nurtured his passion for dance by learning hip-hop, tap, modern dance and ballet since the age of eight.
The annual awards are considered a springboard for careers in the arts, with Sven Ruygrok, a 2009 finalist, going on to act in Spud, while Pallance Dladla, now a popular actor who starred in this year's Durban International Film Festival opening film Hard To Get, was a finalist in 2010. - Deon van der Walt
