Wednesday, March 5th, 2008 - Esther Nasser

Mixael de Kock with Kate Bapela of the Independent Electoral Commission










Mixael presents

This week, South African choreographer, Esther Nasser, will be featured as the Personality of the Week on the mega-popular gay radio show BravoBrava broadcast every Wednesday night from 20:00 to midnight on Radio2000.

Nasser first completed a Speech & Drama Diploma at the University of Pretoria before reading for her degree in Dramatic Art at the University of the Witwatersrand (WITS).

She was Artistic Director of the State Theatre Dance Company and was actively involved in the transformation process in Dance & Theatre since before the establishment of the demographic Government in 1994. She cooperated with the ANC Cultural Desk from 1990 onwards and remains actively involved with the organisation.

The State Theatre Dance Company established itself as a much sought-after dance force and one of the leading companies in SA. The company toured South Africa annually and was present at all the festivals held in Africa and internationally – KKNK / Grahamstown / Nelspruit / Aardklop / Cape Town / Pietermaritzburg, Mocambique, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Israel, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Thailand and Mauritius.

One of Nasser’s forte’s is to develop and push dancers beyond their comfort zones through high standards of teaching and a vast network of contacts. Accustomed to working on many different levels and in a variety of political arenas, Nasser is able to merge both management and dancers to work together as a cohesive team.

Nasser has always led the field with an international and local repertoire of leading choreographers both locally and abroad. Many South African choreographers have been nurtured by Nasser. The company also performed at Nelson Mandela’s inauguration.

Nasser has established a number of community and outreach projects in the form of winter schools and development programmes and won the Gauteng Achievement Community/Outreach Award in 1999. She also mentored many South African award-winning lead dancers now dancing nationally and internationally.

In the second half of this week’s show, from 22:00 to midnight, presenter Mixael de Kock will be joined by
Perdita Bokeer (pictured here on the right), one of the presenters of the former Tuesday Night Show on Radio Today to present this special Human Rights Day edition of BravoBrava. Bokeer and De Kock may soon be joining forces to co-present the second half of BravoBrava on a regular basis.

Also in the second part of tonight's show:

• Francis Keeping with his Report from New York
• Dr Ivan May (pictured on the right), CEO of Constitution Hill Trust (of South Africa)
• Roland Stansell and the cast of The Very Weathered Girls opening at the Rhumbelow Theatre

Media Statement issued: Johannesburg, 4th March 2008

LIZA MINELLI: Grootvoëlsvlei Guest Appearance on BravoBrava

BravoBrava, manufacturers of South Africa’s most brilliant scouring pad, today announced the successful outcome of its negotiations with superstar Liza Minelli to make two guest appearances - with the show’s leading man, Robert Whitehead-DeKock - in tomorrow and next week’s episodes of the blockbuster snap, crackle pop-u-lar radio cereal, The DeKocks of Grootvoëlsvlei. Each new episode is broadcast three times between 22:00 and midnight every Wednesday night on South Africa’s only gay show and which goes out on Radio2000.

Ms Minelli insisted that the two episodes in which she is making her guest appearance be modified as musical numbers. “Obviously this posed great challenges to the artistic directors, sound engineers and choreographers,” says Mixael de Kock-DeKock, executive producer of this innovative series with its modern approach to theatre of the mind. “Essentially the Grootvoëlsvlei-concept deals with three spoken words only: You are fired! But, despite the challenges we managed both to stick to this trusted winning formula while incorporating the essential “Minelli-magic” singing voice.”

World-famous stage and costume designer, Johan Engels-DeKock, who is Artistic Director on this mammoth production, interrupted long-standing engagements in Vienna to tend to the designs of Ms Minelli’s many outfits worn in these two episodes: “Headdresses are most important when dealing with stars of Ms Minelli’s stature as these act as a frame for the essential face. The bigger the star the bigger the frame. For both episodes of Grootvoëlsvlei the headdresses exceed the frequency limits of the station and, the listener will be confronted with a visual feast when Ms Minelli briefly appears from the ether.”

The Minelli-Grootvoëlsvlei event poses a before unknown security risk to South Afrika. De Kock-DeKock says that as everyone will be tuned in to Radio2000 between 22:00 and 00:00 tomorrow night, the country will be vulnerable to attack from the north. BravoBrava correspondent, Francis Keeping, this week reported the following from New York City: “The cereal’s fan club in New York is growing each week and with the political situation in the US being so constipated I have been asked to bring back large quantities of Dr Mac Sheila’s special preparation so wonderfully advertised on the show. I have also been asked if it will work as an instant poor man's facelift!”

International audiences are listening to BravoBrava and all the broadcasts of the Grootvoëlsvlei-saga via audio streaming on http://www.radio20000.co.za/