Growing up in an undeveloped area of Sebokeng, south of Johannesburg, South Africa, Moses Motha says his surroundings were not exactly idyllic. But he had a dusty, makeshift soccer pitch directly across the street from his home. And for Motha, it was “heaven,” he said.
That area brings back both good and bad memories for Motha. Football was his favorite sport, and he remembers playing for the local youth team.
But one game, when he was just 10 years old, would change everything.
“We were playing (a) tournament and I hurt my left knee – someone kicked me, and I fell. From that day on, I was in pain,” Motha said.
He spent many sleepless nights in excruciating pain. Eventually his mother took him to the local hospital, and from there he went to many more people. “The doctors assessed my foot and they found nothing. There was no fracture in it,” he said. “They were disappointed – ‘What is this,’ you know, ‘what’s up?'”
Musa Motha visited the soccer pitch where he used to play. Credit: Bruce Buttery
He said the first round of chemotherapy treatment didn’t work, and Motha’s doctor informed his parents that they would have to amputate his leg.
“He didn’t take it well,” Motha remembered, and neither did he. “I’m a little boy, I mean, lose my leg? I’m like nah, it’s not gonna happen,” he said.
They did not proceed with the amputation, but as time passed, Motha’s condition worsened. “I couldn’t even stand,” he recalled. “So, it was either a matter of amputation or I died.”
He chose amputation and from that day forward, he decided he was going to look at life differently — more positively, he said.
place on the dance floor
True to his word, Motha, now 26, can be seen walking around the world at his feet. He first encountered dancing at a neighborhood party, where he mustered up the courage to ask a friend to teach him some modified moves. “Then I danced (dancing) all night,” he recalled.
The next day he joined a street dance team. Every Sunday, they will compete with other teams in an open-air stage in the city centre.
His talent did not go unnoticed; He went on to appear in South African TV commercials and shows. He also appeared in Drake’s “One Dance” music video.
This was the first time Motha said she had to really reach out of her comfort zone and create a new mindset to dance with a disability.
“Gregory was like ‘leg first parallel,’ and I’m like ‘I won’t move my leg because I only have one,'” he said. “That’s when I was like, well, let’s work on it (I’m going to do it).”
dance with the disabled
Nadine Mackenzie, a wheelchair dancer in South Africa, said that access is the biggest barrier to entry in the performing arts.
“There aren’t many companies or training programs that cater specifically to individuals with disabilities in the dance field,” McKenzie said. “I have had some experiences in which you would be in a class with different bodies and some facilitators wouldn’t know what to do[with us]and so for those reasons, they choose these places for different actors. Don’t open.”
Motha is performing in a production with Vuyani Dance Theater in 2018. Credit: doctor moyo
Beyond the lack of access, Mackenzie, who has been dancing for 15 years, said inclusion is another barrier for people with disabilities.
“There are very few people, especially in South Africa, who actually have projects that involve dancers with disabilities,” he said. “It’s something that’s still very difficult, but it’s slowly — very, very slowly — starting to change.”
“It has been extremely rewarding in the sense that we have been able to create more platforms to train artists and expose more young people to perform,” she said.
Mackenzie believes Unmute is helping to break down some of these barriers through awareness campaigns—not only for people with disabilities to sign up, but for able-bodied people to learn to work with them. Too.
Motha says her mother was paramount to her success: “The part I took from her is that we don’t give up in this house.” Credit: Lisle Black
Gerard Samuel, Professor of Dance at the University of Cape Town, has written extensively on the invisibility of dancers with disabilities. She told CNN that although there has been some progress in both access and inclusion within dance, there is still a lot of work to be done.
“Barriers include the mindset of limitation and the disability of individuals with disabilities and the mythologies and taboos that surround them,” he said. “All of this still needs to change.”
They believe that education, investment and greater representation in the media will lead to greater access and inclusivity.
finding her grove
Without an example he could turn, Motha struggled to figure out how to dance in contemporary pieces with two crutches. A lot of it was just adapting and adjusting, he said.
“I finally found the technique of using one crutch (release) and then (the other) as one leg and one arm at the same time,” he said.
Motha says he wants to “create positivity” and help people with disabilities achieve their dreams. Credit: doctor moyo
He’s also got some help along the way. “We are at a place where we can learn a lot from people with disabilities,” said Gladys Agulhas, a dance instructor who works with people with disabilities, including Motha. “The time has come for us to merge and recognize and respect who we are. It’s everyone’s right to be where they want to be.”
Samuel agrees that representation needs to go beyond the performing arts. “The more we can see the disabled person in many aspects of life, be it as a helicopter pilot, engineer, chef, choreographer and professor… he said.
Motha also has the same dream. Although he told CNN dancing gave him “a purpose,” he said, “I don’t want to see myself as just a dancer.”
“Instead of telling a sobbing tale, I think the most beautiful stories are after (dissection),” Motha said. He encourages people with disabilities to do just about anything: “There are so many things you can overcome that really define how strong you are.”
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