Dance prize for Mamela Nyamza
Choreographer Mamela Nyamza has just won the Silver Lion at the Venice Biennale Danza and is now a finalist for the 2026 Salavisa European Dance Award, a double recognition that boosts her international profile. (timeslive.co.za) That matters because dance prizes like the Silver Lion often create touring, commissioning and residency opportunities that can change how a choreographer’s work is seen outside their home country. (timeslive.co.za)
Mamela Nyamza has landed two of the biggest international nods a choreographer can get in one season: the Silver Lion at the 2026 Venice Biennale Danza and a place on the finalist list for the 2026 Salavisa European Dance Award. The Silver Lion was announced by Venice on 19 February 2026, and the Salavisa finalists were announced on 11 February 2026. (labiennale.org) (gulbenkian.pt) The Venice Biennale is one of Europe’s oldest and most visible arts institutions, and its 2026 dance festival runs from 17 July to 1 August in Venice. This year’s top dance honors went to Bangarra Dance Theatre for the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement and to Nyamza for the Silver Lion. (labiennale.org) The Silver Lion is not a lifetime-service plaque handed out at the end of a career. Venice described Nyamza as an artist who has turned dance into a “site of resistance,” which tells you the prize is rewarding the force of her work right now. (labiennale.org) Nyamza comes from Gugulethu in Cape Town, started ballet at age 8 at Zama Dance School, and earned a National Diploma in Ballet from Tshwane University of Technology in 1994. That path matters because her choreography has long pushed against the old idea that ballet must look European, polished, and socially quiet. (jomba.ukzn.ac.za) (mamelasartisticmovement.co.za) One of her best-known works, HATCHED, began as a solo in 2007 or 2008 and was built from her own life as a mother, lesbian, and artist. The later HATCHED ENSEMBLE keeps that same core argument but puts it into a larger cast, like taking a private diary and turning it into a chorus. (webticket.co.za) (ita.nl) (tanzhaus-nrw.de) The Salavisa European Dance Award works differently from Venice but points in the same direction. It is backed by nine European institutions, shortlisted 5 finalists from 27 candidates, and will name the winner on 17 June 2026. (dansehallerne.dk) (tqw.at) That finalist list also shows the scale of the field Nyamza is now moving in. The other 2026 finalists are Chiara Bersani of Italy, Dan Daw of Australia, Jefta van Dinther of the Netherlands and Sweden, and Lukas Avendaño of Mexico. (gulbenkian.pt) These prizes arrive just as Nyamza is bringing the work back to Cape Town. HATCHED ENSEMBLE is scheduled at the Baxter Theatre on 29 and 30 April 2026, and The Herd/Less is set for 1 and 2 May 2026 before its European premiere at the Venice Biennale Danza. (news24.com) (webticket.co.za) (newssa.co.za) So this is not only a story about a trophy arriving from Europe. It is a story about a Gugulethu-born choreographer whose work was shaped in South Africa, tested on international stages, and is now coming home with Venice and Salavisa pushing more of the dance world to pay attention. (labiennale.org) (news24.com)
