Dada Masilo — an extraordinary, bold and prolific dancer distinguished by fearlessness

Dada Masilo, pictured at Joburg Ballet in 2024, was recognised for her unique presence onstage. (Photo: Lauge Sorensen)

By Bridget Oerle

30 Dec 2024

Deeply respectful of European and contemporary music traditions, but unafraid to go bare on stage and voice her own opinions, Soweto-born Dada Masilo effectively changed the shape and appearance of contemporary dance in South Africa. At the time of her death she was working on a new autobiographical solo piece about the loss of loved ones.

Dada Masilo (1985-2024)

Internationally respected Soweto-born dancer and choreographer Dada Masilo tragically died on 29 December 2024 after a brief illness. She was 39.

The recipient of many local and global awards, including an Italian lifetime achievement award for classic and contemporary dance in September 2024 at the Premio Positano Léonide Massine for the Art of Dance, Masilo began her meteoric career at the Dance Factory in Newtown, Johannesburg, in the 1990s.

Born on 21 February 1985, Masilo first came to the attention of the dance industry as an 11-year-old in 1996, when she was invited to dance for Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. She was educated at the National School of the Arts in Braamfontein, matriculating in 2002.

In 2003 she went on to train at the Jazzart Dance Theatre under the tutelage of Alfred Hinkel in preparation for her training in performance at P.A.R.T.S. (Performing Arts Research and Training Studios) in Brussels, Belgium.

Dada Masilo at Joburg Ballet in 2024. She was prolific in her work and bold in breaking rules. (Photos: Lauge Sorensen)

Dancing with various companies and in a solo capacity, Masilo was recognised for her unique presence onstage. In 2006 she was celebrated as the “Most Promising Female Dance in a Contemporary Style” by the Gauteng Arts and Culture MEC Award judges, and in 2008, at just 22, she received the Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Dance. The latter enabled her career, her personal confidence in her work and her audience awareness to take flight internationally. Masilo was an extraordinary dancer, who understood the value of proper balletic training.

She was prolific in her work and bold in breaking rules. In 2016 her Swan Lake was nominated for a Bessie Award in New York; a year later, her Giselle won Best Performance by the Italian Danza&Danza Award and in 2018 she won the Netherlands’ Prince Claus “Next Generation” Award.

During her brilliant career she collaborated with the likes of William Kentridge, Ann Masina, Albert Silindokuhle Ibokwe Khoza, David April, PJ Sabbagha and Gregory Maqoma. Her work is distinguished by her fearlessness.

Dada Masilo performs for Joburg Ballet in 2024. (Photo: Lauge Sorensen)

Dada Masilo, pictured at Joburg Ballet in 2024, was recognised for her unique presence onstage. (Photo: Lauge Sorensen)

She was known to take great ballet classics of the ilk of Carmen, Hamlet, The Rite of Spring and Romeo and Juliet and tease them apart, bringing in African dance motifs and a universal and powerful understanding of their lead women.

Deeply respectful of European and contemporary music traditions, but unafraid to go bare on stage and voice her own opinions, she effectively changed the shape and appearance of contemporary dance in South Africa.

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 into the wall of the Soweto Theatre. This award meant a lot to her. It was the most important acknowledgement of her career “at home”.

At the time of her unexpected death she was working on a new autobiographical solo piece about the loss of loved ones. DM

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Dada Masilo (1985-2024)