Mthuthuzeli November Choreographer

Biography

South African choreographer Mthuthuzeli November began dancing at the age of 15 and graduated in 2014. He won the award for Best Contemporary Work at the South African International Ballet Competition in both 2012 and 2014 and made his choreographic debut with the Cape Dance Company in 2014. It was there that he also created the works Visceral and SUN - The Rite of Passage. He performed with the Cape Dance Company and in a South African production of West Side Story before joining Ballet Black in September 2015.

Since then, Mthuthuzeli November has created several award-nominated or award-winning works for stage and film with Ballet Black, including the Laurence Olivier Award-winning INGOMA in 2016. For his solo work, he received the Emerging Artist Award from the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees (KKNK).

Mthuthuzeli November choreographed short pieces for the English National Ballet Emerging Dancer competitions in 2018 and 2020 and created and performed for British artist Stormzy at the Glastonbury Festival in 2019. He was also commissioned by Cape Town Opera and Cape Town City Ballet to choreograph a film production of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater. The Grange Festival invited him to create a piece for the production of Precipice (2020). Fall For Dance North commissioned him and his brother, Siphesihle November, to create My Mother’s Son, which premiered in November 2023.

Mthuthuzeli November has continued to create works worldwide, collaborating with the Washington Ballet (USA), the Royal Ballet (UK), Northern Ballet (UK), TanzLuzern (Switzerland), Cape Town City Ballet (SA), Ballett Zürich (Switzerland), and Charlotte Ballet (USA).

In 2022, he was nominated for Best Soloist in a Production at the Black British Theatre Awards and for Best Classical Choreography at the Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards for his piece The Waiting Game. Most recently, he won Best Choreography at the Black British Theatre Awards 2023 for his piece Nina: By Whatever Means, created for Ballet Black.