"I could've been a Caster Semenya, but I chose to do ballet on pointe," says internationally acclaimed dancer Mamela Nyamza, whose ballet teacher instructed her to choose between the two when she was a kid with strong legs.
By then the eight-year-old sprinter from Gugulethu, Cape Town, was already smitten with dance. "Dance was my first true love. I needed it. Even if it was raining I would be at class. Sometimes I was the only one," says Nyamza.
She is the first dancer and choreographer to be the "featured artist" at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown this year. A trailblazer who has set the stage alight with provocative performances, Nyamza belongs in the spotlight.
When she enters the Rose Café in Bo-Kaap in a black leather pantsuit for the interview she radiates charisma, her smile brightened by metallic green lipstick. She moves with the grace of Black Panther and, like the superhero, has harnessed her powers to realise her vision...