CANADIAN PREMIERE!
IZILO
By Vincent Sekwati Mantsoe
Presented by dance Immersion
November 14-15, 2025 @ 8:00 PM
Meridian Arts Centre – Studio Theatre
5040 Yonge Street, North York
Performance Tickets: $44.80
[$39.55 + $5.25 in taxes and box office fees]
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS for Friday, November 14, 2025 @ 8 PM
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS for Saturday, November 15, 2025 @ 8 PM
Workshops! Click HERE to register for workshops with Vincent!
ABOUT IZILO
A powerful new work by Vincent Sekwati Koko Mantsoe
Are we becoming more savage than the animals we once feared?
IZILO confronts the unsettling evolution of human behavior—where violence, greed, and chaos strip us of our dignity and disconnect us from spirit and community. Who is the hunter, and who is the hunted?
Rooted in the African philosophy of Ubuntu, this visceral performance explores the idea that everything living holds a vital and spiritual force. Even in emptiness, there is always the potential for something to take form.
Through raw, physical movement and surging emotion, IZILO channels the ferocity of wildcats, the lurking presence of vultures, and the disarray of a world spiraling into dysfunction. Mantsoe’s signature fusion of street dance, traditional African forms, and contemporary technique delivers a haunting portrait of a society at war with itself.
Born in Soweto, Vincent Sekwati Koko Mantsoe began his journey in township street dance and rose to prominence with Moving into Dance Mophatong, later serving as Associate Artistic Director. Now based in France, he brings his award-winning international vision to the stage with this bold, unflinching work.
CREDITS
Choreographed and Performed By: Vincent Sekwati Mantsoe
Costume and Décor By: Vincent Sekwati Mantsoe
Original Lighting Design/Technical: Wesley Maherry
Music: Mantombi Matotiyana and Brian Reitzell
Producer for Vincent Mantsoe: Natasha Eck
dance Immersion Team
Curator & Producer: Timea Wharton-Suri
Communications: Jillian Greyson
Toronto Production Stage Manager & Lighting Adaptation: Sharon DiGenova
Assistant Stage Manager: Zahra Badua
Moderator: Nicole Inica Hamilton
BIOGRAPHY
Photos of Vincent by Jasmine Mokgosi
Vincent Sekwati Koko Mantsoe is an internationally acclaimed choreographer, performer, and teacher known for fusing contemporary dance with African spiritual and cultural practices. Born in Soweto, Johannesburg, his early exposure to traditional healing ceremonies led by his Sangoma grandmother, mother, and aunts deeply informed his movement vocabulary and artistic vision.
Mantsoe’s Afro-fusion style blends African dance forms with global influences from Europe and the USA, creating spiritually charged works that explore the interconnectedness of humanity, nature, and ancestral memory. He began his formal dance journey at Moving Into Dance Mophatong under Sylvia Glasser and later founded his own company, Association Noa, in France to promote cross-cultural exchange.
His powerful solo and group works—including Gula ‘Bird’, Mpheyane, and KOMA—have toured globally, earning him numerous accolades such as the Standard Bank Young Artist Award and the Dora Mavor Moore Award. Through residencies and master classes spanning continents, Mantsoe continues to influence and inspire generations of artists worldwide.
