The Blue Album

DIRECTOR

Ernest ‘Ginger’ Baleni

Ginger is a Johannesburg-based movement director, choreographer, director, and performer whose work is grounded in the expressive relationship between body and text. Trained at Vuyani Dance Theatre, where he became a company member, Baleni’s practice centres the body as a site of inquiry, interrogating how movement can reveal emotional and narrative truths beyond language.

He holds a BA honours and a postgraduate diploma in applied drama and theatre studies from the University of the Witwatersrand and is currently pursuing a master's degree. Alongside his performance career, he contributes to arts education as a teacher at Moving into Dance Mophatong and the National Children’s Theatre.

Baleni’s recent credits include movement director for The Lion King Junior (2025) and Katanga (2024) at The Market Theatre, as well as The Suit (2024) at the National Arts Festival. His choreographic work Poet-O -Type (2024) was staged at The Market Theatre. He contributed to the Standard Bank Young Artist Award-winning production Khongolose Khommanding Khomissars (2023), which toured major South African stages, and to the Fleur du Cap-nominated Of Loss – Handle with Care (2023) at the Baxter Theatre.

As a director, his work includes Isililo (2023) at Market Theatre Laboratory. He has also performed in Gregory Maqoma's internationally acclaimed production Cion (2018–2024), touring Europe, the USA, and Asia.

Baleni is actively involved in community arts development, facilitating workshops and contributing to projects with institutions including the University of Zululand and Tsa Basotho Lejweleputswa Community Arts Centre.

WRITER AND PERFORMER

Vuyelwa Maluleke

Vuyelwa is an actor, lecturer and writer with an MA in Creative Writing (with distinction) from Rhodes University and a BA in Dramatic Arts from the University of Witwatersrand. A runner-up for the 5th Gerald Kraak Prize, Maluleke was also shortlisted for the Kelsey Street Press QTBIPOC Prize for the manuscript Falling Toward the Centre (2021) as well as the Sillerman First Book Prize for the The Blue Album manuscript (2021). She was a semi-finalist in the Boston Annual Poetry Contest (2020) and has worked with directors such as Sylvaine Strike, James Ngcobo and Jo Bonney. Her most notable performances are from the television production of Shreds and Dreams 2 and national touring theatre productions of Tartuffe and Emotional Creature: it’s a girl thing. 

Lighting Designer

Linda Mangena 

Linda is a lighting designer and technical stage manager with over eight years of experience across theatre, live performance, and events. She holds a National Diploma in Performing Arts Technology from the Tshwane University of Technology. Her practice is rooted in visual storytelling, using light to shape atmosphere, space, and emotional rhythm. Combining creative intuition with technical precision, she develops lighting languages that deepen narrative and performance.

Currently based at AFDA (The School for the Creative Economy), she mentors emerging artists and supports student productions, equipping them with the technical confidence required for professional practice.

Her collaborators include Tony Miyambo, Phala Ookeditse Phala, Vuyelwa Maluleke, Toni Morkel, Mahlatsi Mokgonyana, Billy Langa, Haileigh Evans, and Luntu Masiza. She has also worked alongside lighting designers Wilhelm Disbergen and Wandile Mgcoodo, whose influence informs her evolving practice.

Set Designer

Nelly Sambo 

Nelly Sambo is a creative professional with a Bachelor of Arts degree in motion pictures. She is currently employed at AFDA, where she actively contributes to the development of young talent and the advancement of the film and television industry. With a strong passion for storytelling and visual arts, Nelly brings both academic insight and hands-on experience to her role. Her commitment to the creative arts continues to inspire and shape the next generation of filmmakers.