Enable Through Dance turns 10 this September, and Moving into Dance is marking the milestone with a free performance in Johannesburg. The show starts at 11:00 AM on Thursday, 18 September 2026, at the Keorapetse William Kgositsile Theatre.
UJ Arts Centre on Kingsway Campus hosts the event through its ongoing partnership with UJ Arts & Culture. The performance runs for 70 minutes, entirely staged by dancers with disabilities.
Save the date. Entrance is free, so mark your calendar for September 18th and show your support for Enable Through Dance.
What Is Enable Through Dance?
Enable Through Dance is a free annual performance by Moving into Dance that showcases young dancers with disabilities from seven Johannesburg schools. The project treats dance as a tool for confidence, not just choreography.
Participants are often told what they cannot do, and Enable Through Dance flips that script on a professional stage. Moving into Dance launched the project in 2016 as an extension of its weekly in-school dance classes. Ten years on, that weekly work now reaches over 160 young people across the city each week.
Here’s what a decade of Enable Through Dance looks like on the ground.
The Schools Behind Enable Through Dance
Seven special needs schools and organisations feed into this programme every week, spread from Eldorado Park to Hillbrow:
- Don Materra School: Weekly classes build confidence in learners with additional needs.
- Johannesburg Hospital School for Autism: Dance sessions support communication and emotional expression.
- Phiri Special School: Movement-based learning fits directly into the school day.
- Thembalethu Foundation: Dance keeps at-risk youth engaged in a structured creative outlet.
- Winnie Madikeleza Mandela School: Learners get consistent access to professional dance instruction.
- Johannesburg Society for the Blind: Choreography adapts to different sensory needs.
- Philile Foundation Pre-School: Early exposure to movement and rhythm from a young age.
For the first time this year, the 2026 show brings these young dancers into a full professional theatre.
What This Year's Performance Adds
Artistic Director Sunnyboy Mandla Motau says the school programme always mattered, but the stage is where it lands.
“The moment that matters is this one. Working in special needs schools, then giving young people the chance to perform in a professional theatre, is nothing short of amazing."
Moving into Dance credits funders such as the City of Johannesburg’s Directorate of Arts and Culture for keeping the weekly teaching running.
How to Get Involved
Support goes beyond a seat in the theatre. Media, funders and community members can contact Moving into Dance directly to get involved. High-resolution images and B-roll footage are available on request, along with interviews with Artistic Director Sunnyboy Mandla Motau and CEO Nadia Virasamy.
Contact us to learn more about getting involved with Enable Through Dance, where the crowd gathers for elevated entertainment.
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