Every move from ballet dancer David Maluleka is a statement of courage. “My first performance, I remember being so nervous that I’d forget the choreography or make a fool of myself,” he recalls. But when the lights dimmed and the audience quietened, something clicked. “It felt like I was about to talk and people would listen.” It was a revelation for the dancer who’d been searching for a way to express what he was going through.
Despite growing up with parents who only wanted the best for him and his three younger siblings, things went south when David’s dad developed a chronic illness and stopped working full-time. “That brought about the abuse of alcohol, which had a snowball effect,” he explains. “In the beginning, I had a very loving and nurturing childhood, but within my teens, it became abusive – physically and emotionally. When my dad got drunk, he would use our home as a boxing bag.”
His time at the Dance For All studio became the only constant that didn’t cause fear. “In class, I’d dance without having to think about what's happening at home,” David says. But for the teenager still finding his feet, this was a distraction – not a complete escape. After a particularly bad incident at home, David could no longer go on. “That’s when I lost my sense of power, voice, and direction,” he says. “At 17, I did attempt to commit suicide.” Waking up in hospital, David’s first thought was what his dance teacher would say about him missing class. “Had it not been for dance, I don’t think I would have survived that,” he says. “Those were the things that kept me resilient. Things are still happening, but if you can at least make it to the next class, it will be okay.”
Today, David is no longer trying to escape his circumstances; realising that with dance, he has a voice and can succeed in spite of whatever challenges come his way. “I don’t want to let life determine what I amount to,” he says.
As a late starter in ballet, a dance form that requires practice and perfection of technique early on in life, David has also had to overcome doubts about his abilities. “It’s rare to start at such a late age,” he says. “I was so awkward, I had no posture, no understanding of my body, no spatial awareness. How was I going to remember choreography, stage presence, execution?”
Yet what he did have was teachers who believed in him. The late Agatha Manuel, who taught dance at Oaklands High School, is why David began. “She not only introduced this art form to me, she also introduced a new me to me,” he explains. “Prior to that, I don't think I felt the way I feel about myself today.”
After high school, David earned a tertiary scholarship to study at the Cape Academy of Performing Arts. When Covid-19 forced the school’s closure, its founding director Debbie Turner – guided him to the Cape Town City Ballet graduate programme. “She believed I was good, she wanted me to amount to company dancing,” David says. Today, he’s a professional with them and well on his way to becoming a principal dancer.
“It was scary in the beginning because I was pushing towards something that I wasn’t sure would work out,” he says. “But because I knew what I’d overcome in my personal life, I have come to know what David can do. Why can't I dream as big as I dream and actually achieve them?” he asks. “I believe it’s possible.”
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