Soaring in San José with Odwa and Lwando

This Article Originally Published in International Arts & Artists

Lwando and Odwa have come a long way together, both literally and figuratively! Dancers from South Africa, the duo first met over twelve years ago and have been friends ever since. From studying together at the Cape Academy of Performing Arts to performing with the Cape Dance Company, the pair have been there for each another at every step of their professional careers.

In 2017, Lwando and Odwa seized the opportunity to train together at the New Ballet School, a classical ballet training program led by Dalia Rawson and based in San José, CA. The duo also benefited from the support of the Gugulethu Ballet Project, a non-profit organization that partners with dance communities to expand opportunities for children in the townships of South Africa. Founded by former American Ballet Theatre soloist Kristine Elliott, the Gugulethu Ballet Project provides scholarships and other resources for exceptionally gifted youth from South Africa to study and train in the United States.

Thanks to the New Ballet School and the Gugulethu Ballet Project, Lwando and Odwa have spent the past few months immersed in the performing arts world of San José. And, from performing The Nutcracker to seeing snow for the first time, they’ve experienced it alongside one another! We caught up with the duo to hear more about their experience in San José, what it’s like living with a host family, and what’s next for these talented dancers.

What’s the best part about participating in an exchange program alongside your friend?

Lwando: Travelling can be hard, especially when you don’t know anyone, so having a friend by my side has been so helpful, especially since I have known Odwa for 12 years. He knows everything about me and I about him. It’s hard being away from home for so long, but Odwa has made it so much easier. Whenever one of us is feeling down we know how to pick the other one up!

Odwa: The best part is to see improvement in each other as we each know our strength and weaknesses. It also made us grow closer as friends because we’re staying under the same roof with our host family.

Can you tell us about living with a host family and how that has impacted your exchange?

Lwando: Living with a host family has been amazing and life changing. They have exposed us to so many new things in California. Odwa and I are now in the process of learning how to drive, which we have always wanted to do but haven’t been able to in South Africa.

Odwa: Our host family is the best and they have truly made this exchange memorable. Before this exchange, I didn’t really take into consideration what I put in my body because back home organic food is really expensive, but they taught me about healthy eating, and my body and dancing has responded positively.

How was performing The Nutcracker for the first time? How does it compare to performing in South Africa?

Lwando: Performing The Nutcracker for the first time was so much fun and a life changing experience, because I never once thought I would perform a historical ballet on stage. I learned about it at my ballet school in South Africa, but I usually perform neo-classical contemporary style. I have to say, I enjoy performing both genres, even though they are widely different.

Odwa: Lwando and I had never performed The Nutcracker before. No company in South Africa does it. It was so nerve wracking for the first few performances because it’s a signature ballet of every ballet company in the United States and you cannot afford to look bad. People who have been performing The Nutcracker their whole lives will even say they are sick of the music, but I ended up loving every moment on stage. I was just enjoying myself, especially when we performed with a live orchestra.

Tell us about a funny or interesting moment you’ve experienced during your program!

Lwando: Performing in public places has been an interesting experience for me, because I had never performed in front of people like that. We performed in the shopping center, and I was amazed to see people appreciating the performance and giving us the respect and silence we needed. This was interesting to me because I had never experienced this in South Africa.

Odwa: Being in the snow for the first time was such an experience. I was like a little kid who is impressed by something he always thought it was a myth. Another interesting thing is the time difference between here and home. I remember back in school we were told that when we have the sunlight in South Africa, other places in the world are dark. So this one time I video called my grandmother and it was crack of dawn for her. The disbelief in her face when I showed her that I must still go to bed was priceless!

What does cultural exchange mean to you?

Lwando: Cultural exchange means people coming together to promote mutual understanding about the place or places they came from. It helps many people learn about other countries and how people live in other places. It also helps build relationships between countries so that we can all know how to work together and make this world a better place.

Odwa: Cultural exchange means being exposed to things that you’re not used to. It means you’re going to find out things you didn’t know about yourself, because you act differently when you’re not in your natural habitat.

What advice can you offer future exchange visitors coming to the United States?

Lwando: I would tell a future exchange visitor that they should never hold themselves back from experiencing all the fun things the US has to offer. They should be nice to people because that’s how you make many friends, and they should always live in the moment while they’re here because these kinds of experiences only come once in a lifetime.

Odwa: Future exchange students should prepare themselves for lots of different American sub-cultures and should be curious enough to learn more about them.