Bringing the Cape Town Carnival to life
GROWING up in impoverished circumstances in the small Swartland town of Piketberg has not stopped Tyron Zoutman from winning a string of local and international awards for dance, choreography, scriptwriting and direction.
Performing alongside several other highly talented dancers in the “Honouring our African Cultural Roots” pod at this year’s Cape Town Carnival, Zoutman will help bring to life the Carnival’s theme, “Incredible Journey: Sounds of South Africa”.
The routine will combine traditional and contemporary African dance, and will draw inspiration in movement, dress and adornment from Zulu, Xhosa, Sotho and Ndebele cultures.
Zoutman is skilled in local hip hop, kwaito, gumboot, African jazz and African fusion dance – among several other genres – and attributes his success to his mother, his church, teachers and mentors.
“They shaped who and what I am today,” he said.
“I came from a family that was very spiritual and artistic, and my childhood was sort of like a ‘God
“I came from a family that was very spiritual and artistic Tyron Zoutman Performer
journey’ with teachers like Miss Hefca and the late Roderick Beukes seeing talent in me then pushing me in the right direction.”
Zoutman studied Performing Arts at Northlink College in Cape Town, where he is now a drama lecturer. He began his journey in the arts after being plucked from a school choir.
As an adult Zoutman has appeared in leading and awardwinning roles in Artscape shows like The Boyfriend and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, and as a lead or part of an ensemble in many other major musicals and theatre productions including Evita, Perfectly You, Our Winds That Heal, Ugubani Wena, Uhambo, The Fire Within Us!, Shadows in Red Light, Annie Get Your Gun and Worstel in die Geheim.
“It was Cape Town Carnival and all its incredible people, especially those at the community dance workshops, that made me fall in love with the spirit of ubuntu/ togetherness and allowed me not only to perform what I did best, but also to mentor others and share in their development,” he said.
The Cape Town Carinval is on March 21 in Green Point.