She was only 14 years old when she shocked her parents with the news that she wanted to go to boarding school in the US to study art.
Zamo Mlengana, now 22, realised her dream. At age 15 she started her drama studies at Walnut Hill School for the Arts in Boston, Massachusetts. After completing high school, she was accepted as a drama student at the prestigious US art school. She joined the academy of the world’s gifted musicians, dancers and actors – The Juilliard School in New York.
Mlengana graduated last year with a BA in Fine Arts. She joins a decorated group of award-winning alumni of the school. They include Viola Davis, the late Robin Williams and Jessica Chastain.
Left SA in 2016 in Grade 10
Mlengana left South Africa in 2016 in the middle of Grade 9, a few days after her 15th birthday. She started Grade 10 at Walnut Hill School for the Arts in Boston. Not only was she the only African pupil at the school, but she was the only pupil who had not been to a live theatre performance.
“My schoolmates had gone to see Broadway shows with their parents. They knew which colleges they wanted to attend after high school and their parents were part of it. Mine weren’t. So, I was trying to catch up, plus art was not something that we coveted as a family. Unlike the way that some of the kids I went to school with did,” she said.
So, she buried herself in her studies and rehearsals. She was determined not to return home from the US not having achieved her dream. After all, her parents were spending a fortune for her to study in America.
With the final year of school being all about rehearsals for college, Mlengana set herself another shot at the stars. She wanted to study drama at The Juilliard School.
Daunting application process
The calibre of applications for The Juilliard that she was up against was intimidating. Some of them were already established big names in the entertainment industry. The gruelling application process meant her ambition was considered a pipe dream by some of her classmates.
“I got comments such as ‘Oh, that’s cute’ when I mentioned that I wanted to go to Juilliard,” she said.
Not discouraged by the feedback from her peers, she remained focused on her dream to enter Walnut Hill.
And when she was accepted at Juilliard, Mlengana was driven to succeed by the sacrifices made by her parents. Her father Mzamo Mlengana and her mother Patience Mlengana.
“I remember when I did that presentation for my parents to ask them to attend Walnut Hill. My mother asked me if I knew how many flights I needed to take to get to Boston,” she chuckled.
She said during her studies, her mother would also remind her that she was representing the dream. Also aspirations of African children who wished they had the same opportunities.
So, it was a great moment of achievement last year when she was joined by her family to receive her degree at Julliard.
Back in SA as a graduate, using art to bring about change
She is back in South Africa working on her dream to link the two countries that have been central to her art education. It is a slow process. But one that Mlengana is determined to achieve to be able to work both in South Africa and the US.
“I want to open more doors for children who have similar dreams such as mine. For them to be able to access the type of training programmes and education,” she said.
She is currently working with the Bond Street Theatre which brings theatre to crisis zones. Mlengana is also doing work with the Rape Crisis Trust in Khayelitsha, Western Cape.
“We don’t know how to support people who have been raped. And theatre helps you to personify it. We get communities to speak about gender-based violence,” she said. She was referring to the power of theatre in raising awareness about societal issues.
