One-leg South African fulfills wish of dancing with stars
Motha's leg was amputated when he was 11-years-old, after being diagnosed with cancer.
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - At the Joburg Theatre in South Africa, Musa Motha is getting ready for an evening performance.
He is a lead performer and dancer in ‘Cion: Requiem of Ravel’s Bolero’ a production about a profession mourner in South Africa’s townships during the country’s transition to democracy.
Motha’s leg was amputated when he was 11-years-old, after being diagnosed with cancer. He says he enjoyed soccer and DJ-ing, prior to the surgery.
He dreamt of being a professional soccer player one day, but later realized that he would not be able to pursue the sport to that level.
Although he had a chance to develop his deejay skills further, Motha decided to stick to exploring dancing instead and joined the Vuyani Dance Theatre last year.
"It was the love of music, you know. I was firstly a DJ and it escalated to dancing. As I was dancing too much behind the decks, you know. So I ended up starting to love dancing. Some of my friends taught me how to dance, we had a party you know. And then I took it seriously and I started dancing. I was a street dancer before; I was dancing is bujwa and hip-hop and pantsula, yeah…before I can do contemporary," said Motha.
Now a full-time dancer, he says he has been able to find an outlet for agility and physical strength through dance.
He enjoys isibhujwa (local street dance), hip-hop and contemporary dance.
But he also faces some difficulties as a disabled dancer.
"The challenge that I have with just grabbing the choreography. For two abled bodies to catch something, it can take them two seconds, for me it s going to take me 10 seconds you know. That s only the difference. Apart from that, I m perfect," said Motha.
When he is not dancing, Motha is a motivational speaker and says he wants to inspire people living with disability to explore different disciplines and also help break down social prejudices.
"You couldn’t even tell they were on crutches! I think that s one of the things, once I finally noticed them, I was like -- no way! It was just one of those things where it s not even a case of being on crutches. It was a case of, once you notice, you re mind blown coz…they were just a dancer, truth be told," said Tiffany Nugo, an audience member.
"For me it was so amazing. It was so amazing seeing something like that. It was actually, it was a shock coz we couldn t see him and then when you saw him, it was like, wow! He is so amazing. He s actually active, he s so active, he s amazing!" said Jeanine Kivido, another guest.
Motha will be heading to New York this September to gain international exposure.
