Noxolo Dlamini - Stealing the show!

DEBASHINE THANGEVELO

‘Jiva!’ lead actress lets her feet do the talking...

NOXOLO Dlamini exudes this infectious energy. It was unmistakable during our virtual chat.

And it goes without saying that her livewire personality sealed her fate in landing the role of Ntombi, a gifted street dancer from Umlazi, in Netflix’s critically-acclaimed dance drama, Jiva!

Ntombi’s dreams were upended when her father committed suicide. At the time, she was on the brink of landing her big break - an opportunity to tour as a dancer.

As such, her then boyfriend Bheki (Zamani Mbatha) took her slot and became an overnight star. Encouraged by her uncle Bra Zo (Tony Kgoroge) and her ride or die, Vuyiswa (Candice Modiselle), Ntombi decides to give her dream one last shot by entering the fifth Jiva! Loxion competition as The Trollies.

Jiva! is Dlamini’s breakthrough role. She previously appeared in Isibaya and Liberty. When she was in Grade 7, she, helped by her drama teacher, secured a spot at the National School of the Arts, where she spent two years. She then moved to Dominican Convent School as the competitive environment at NSA left her somewhat disillusioned.

“My mother, who has always been supportive of me, felt like my light was being dimmed at NSA,” Dlamini said.

The move was great. The environment and sense of family at her new school made her love her craft again.

Back to Jiva!. She auditioned for the roles of Lady E and Zinhle. But, after getting a call back for the latter part, her banter with Scottnes L Smith (one of the directors) over the character veering into parody territory in the audition, got her cast as Ntombi.

She said: “I told him, I thought it was so stereotypical, the way I was asked to play the character. I’m from Soweto. Yes, there’s girls like this. But I felt like he wanted me to approach it in a very caricature way.”

Suffice to say, the director was grateful for the feedback.

On landing the part, she said: “What a pleasant surprise. But that’s when the work had to start because Ntombi is a gqom dancer, which is a style of dance I’m not used to and so I had to start doing my research. I had to start enjoying gqom music, which was very difficult. It sounded like noise at first. It’s crazy because, now, I really enjoy it.”

Having grown up in Soweto, she was able to connect to the township vibe.

She continued: “It is the most beautiful thing to see all these black women coming together to lift each other up. There’s a sisterhood they create. It’s so beautiful to watch and inspiring.”

♦ Jiva! is currently streaming on Netflix.