Red Boots

Andile Vellem was born as a hearing person and at the age of 5 suffered from mumps that took way his hearing. He was introduced to music when his sister took his hand and put it against a speaker to feel the vibration through his body. Both his parents were ballroom dancers, and he use to watch them dancing, later turning his attention to imitating Michael Jackson.

In the year 2000, Andile was introduced to Adam Benjamin from the UK, who was an artistic director of a well know integrated dance company.  Adam choreographed a piece called Querist’s Quire which performed at The Dance Umbrella in Johannesburg, Artscape in Cape Town and The Royal Festival Hall in London UK.

In 2005 Andile worked with Remix Dance Company as a full time performer and worked with choreographers such as Ina Mogane, Mpho Mselela, Jay Pather, Jacqueline Dommisse, Tossie Van Tonder, Jaco Bouwer,, Jori Snell, Nicola Visser, Mandla Mbothwe and Ananda Fuchs. In 2010 he became the Artistic director of Unmute, a cutting-edge dance company of mixed ability dancers and has choreographed, taught and danced locally, nationally and internationally.

Jori Snell is a physical performing-and visual artist from Holland/Denmark (1972). She works as a freelance performer, improviser, director and teacher, transforming her training in physical theatre, contact improvisation (CI), butoh/martial arts and visual arts into a personal language. Companies she has worked with are: Odin Teatret (DK), Teatret OM (DK), Corona la Bal-ance/ZeBU(DK) and Panthéâtre (Roy Hart Theatre, FR), Su-En Butoh company (SE). Between 2008-2016, based in Cape Town, South Africa, she created works for/with companies such as FTH:K & Ubom! (Physical/Visual Theatres) and Remix Dance Company (Mixed Ability Dance). She initiated and sustained the CI scene in Cape Town. Her inspiration in Butoh, CI and Improvisation has grown and developed through her meetings with Tadashi Endo, Su-En, Kitt Johnson, Kirstie Simson, Katie Duck, Lucia Walker, Ray Chung, Nancy Stark Smith and many others. Since 2016 she has collaborated intensively with Andrew de Lotbinière Harwood, teach-ing and performing in Canada, Denmark, South Africa and Costa Rica. Now based in Costa Ri-ca, she has created a new piece of work for young audiences in public schools and institutions in Costa Rica, and is passionate about sharing her work in local dance and art communities.

In her work and teaching she aims to bring alive an authentic expression in body, mind and space, moving between dance, myth & poetry with a love for spontaneous, alive and improvised image-making.

Caroline Calburn initiated Theatre Arts (as it is now known) in 2009 after a long history in theatre in which she has been a performer, theatre director, educator and facilitator in both universities and communities, working at a local, national and international level. Theatre Arts, as it is now known, its ethos and its programmes, is a culmination of this experience. 

Jayne Batzofin completed their Honours degree at WITS University, majoring in directing and stage/costume design. Subsequent studies have included: attending the acclaimed theatre school, l'ecole Jacques Lecoq in Paris and completing an MA in Dramaturgy, through the University of Cape Town and the University of Amsterdam. Having worked in close collaboration with FTH:K  (From the Hip: Khulumakahle), CWBSA (Clowns without Borders South Africa) and Assitej, Jayne has nurtured a deep passion for developing Theatre for Young Audiences, specialising in producing shows for Deaf children.