Welcome to “Independent Media Lifestyle’s” new feature, “Hang 10”.

Each week, we will feature an extra-ordinary Mzansi personality who is excelling in their line of work. This week, we get to know more about the artist director of Flatfoot Dance Company and UKZN Drama and Performance Studies lecturer, Dr Lliane Loots.

Question: How long have you been in the arts industry and what was the motivation behind it?

Answer: “I started dancing at 6-years-old, so this is a long time ago. But the Flatfoot Dance Company began in 1994 as a training programme for young dancers and grew from there. I suppose dance took me by the heart as it is such an embodied art form with this huge power to tell stories. I love the gentle politics of this.”

Q: Which of your projects are you most proud of and why?

A: “I am most proud actually that Flatfoot has survived for over 30 years as it can get very hairy on the funding front. The fact that for most of these 30 years we have supplied full-time salaried work for South African - and Durban - dancers is, frankly, a miracle!”

Q: What are the biggest creative risks you've taken?

A: "As a choreographer and as I have gotten older, I have let go for the more traditional ways of creating dance and have learnt to trust the incredible dancers I work with.

“They come with their own embodied stories, so our process is often about sharing across races, gender, ability ... and about me and Flatfoot growing a collective methodology of creation.

“I feel that this honours the dancers who are always credited as co-creators in all my work. At heart of this is a deep sense of community which I hope I never take for granted.”

Q: What inspires you to wake up everyday and continue?

A: “I watch lives being changed in the dance studio and in the community-based work we do, this includes my own life. And I get to wake up each day knowing I get to dance, what else is there?”

Q: What is one misconception people often have about you?

A: “I think people often think I have limitless energy because I am balancing a lot of work; lecturing, running Flatfoot but, like everyone else, there has to be an off switch.”

Q: What is your favourite part about living in Durban?

A: “Durban is like an old, weathered gogo who needs a lot of love and care but who often gives back to all of us in surprising and beautiful ways. And we have the Indian ocean! Durban is full of hidden gems and so visitors have to be super adventurous to find them.”

Q: What are your favourite holiday destinations and why?

A: “I am a hiking and walking fanatic so for me the Drakensberg (especially Giants Castle) is paradise on Earth. But I also have a deep love of Kenya, and would never say no to a trip to East Africa, due to many various dance exchanges with incredible Kenyans.”

Q: Who is your favourite local designer?

A: “To be honest I am not much of a designer clothes person, but I really do love what designers like Sindiso Khumalo are doing with clothes as a type of social activism. I find it very inspiring. Closer to home, I love the wearability of Amanda Laird Cherry.”

Q: What’s in the pipeline this year?

A: “Flatfoot and I are currently working on a bespoke site responsive performance for the KZNSA Gallery called ‘Happenstance’. Limited seating with only two performances on February 28 and March 1. In April we will have a big season of new work at the Sneddon Theatre called ‘Bodies of Water’.”

Q: Any words of encouragement for those wanting to pursue the arts?

A: “Being a working artist is ironically a lot to admin and a lot of hustle for funding, venues, support, audiences ... so you have to dig deep and put in these hours. But when everything aligns there is nothing more sacred than the art we create and being the shaman and storyteller for your community.”

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Discover the creative journey of Flatfoot's artist director, Lliane Loots