Nomsa Manaka
Nomsa Kupi Manaka (born 1965) is a South African dancer, choreographer and actress from Soweto, Johannesburg. She trained in classical ballet and teaches dance at the Funda Center, which was founded by her husband, Matsemela Manaka.
In 1989 she acted in the play Gorée, about a young Black woman discovering African roots while traveling across Africa and ending in Gorée, Senegal. In 1991 she started Rainbow of Hope, a dance magazine, and in 1993 she created the opera Daughter of Nebo. Her choreographies blend African traditions with contemporary dance.
Her husband Matsemela Manaka died in 1998 in a car accident. In 2010 she appeared in the short film Exiled, about a woman dealing with political exile in the United States in 1990. In the 2010s she lived with musician Hugh Masekela, who had prostate cancer. Manaka was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2016. They promoted celebrating life and not letting cancer bring them down. Hugh Masekela died in January 2018. Manaka recovered after chemotherapy and, during her recovery, conceived the dance production Dancing Out of Cancer, staged at the Joburg Theatre to raise money for cancer patients.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 19:39 (CET).