Gregory Maqoma was born in Soweto in 1973, and is one of the best known choreographers in South Africa. His interest in dance arose at the end of the 1980s, as a way of making sense of the major political tensions in the community in which he grew up. His dance education started in 1990 with Moving Into Dance, where he became assistant artistic director in 2002. Internationally, Maqoma has become known as an acclaimed dancer, choreographer, teacher, director and scriptwriter. He founded the Vuyani Dance Theatre (VDT) in 1999 while he had a scholarship with the Performing Arts Research and Training School (PARTS) in Belgium under Anna Theresa de Keersmaeker. His work is typified by complex and surprising dance which brings together both traditional and contemporary dance, and which digs deep into identity and history. Maqoma has taught and presented productions in Europe, West Africa, Mexico and the USA, and he has been behind a number of festivals in South Africa and the Netherlands. His choreography is also presented by other companies such as the South African Ballet Theatre and in a number of productions by theatre director James Ngboto. He has also worked with the Belgian choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoi on the production Southern Bound Comfort. In 2006, he worked with the British choreographer Akram Khan and the London Symphonietta. The production Via Kanana was last performed during the Dance Umbrella festival in London in autumn 2018.