It is with great sadness that we learn of the passing of the internationally recognised Soweto-born dancer and choreographer Dada Masilo, whom we lost tragically on 29 December 2024 after a brief illness. She was only 39.
Masilo began her young career at the Dance Factory in Newtown, Johannesburg, in the 1990s, and achieved early success as a learner from the National School of the Arts in Braamfontein.
By 2003, still a teenager, Dada was already in training at the Jazzart Dance Theatre under Alfred Hinkel in preparation for more advanced training at the Performing Arts Research and Training Studios in Brussels, Belgium.
Masilo became known for her innovative approach to classical ballet and contemporary dance, fusing them with African dance to create an up-tempo style. She was also not one to shy away from complex issues of race and gender.
She received numerous local and global awards, including an Italian lifetime achievement award for classic and contemporary dance late last year at the Premio Positano Léonide Massine for the Art of Dance.
In 2006, Dada Masilo was recognised as the ‘Most Promising Female Dance in a Contemporary Style’ by the Gauteng Arts and Culture MEC Award judges, and in 2008, aged just 22, she was the recipient of the Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Dance.
In 2016, her version of ‘Swan Lake’ was nominated for a Bessie Award in New York and, a year later, her ‘Giselle’ won ‘Best Performance’ at the Italian Danza&Danza Awards. In 2018, she won the Netherlands’ Prince Claus 'Next Generation' Award.
At the beginning of December 2024, she was acknowledged by the City of Joburg as one of 44 “artistic icons in the City of Gold” with a star embedded in the wall of the Soweto Theatre. Hers was a generational talent in the performing arts. South Africa and the world have been left a colder, less lively place with her no longer part of it.
May Dada Masilo’s gifted soul rest in peace.
Gayton McKenzie
Minister of Sport, Arts, and Culture
For media enquiries:
Ms Stacey-Lee Khojane, Spokesperson: Office of the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture │Email: StaceyK@dsac.gov.za │ Cell: +27 77 608 7579
Ms Zimasa Velaphi, Head of Communication and Marketing: Department of Sport,
Arts and Culture │Email: ZimasaV@dsac.gov.za │ Cell: +27 (0) 72 172 8925
Issued by the Ministry of Sport, Arts and Culture
