I faced many challenges while seeking work in London. Even getting a job as a cleaner was hard. But I managed to dance fulltime and earn just enough to keep my head above water. It helped that I was doing what I love. When I look back on this period of my life as an adult, I realise that it’s ok to make some mistakes but also that it’s good to get as much experience as you can.
Tulimelila Shityuwete is one of the most talented dancers and choreographers in Namibia. Born in London in the United Kigndom where her father was studying, Shityuwete’s father moved back to Namibia to prepare for elections in 1989 and she followed afterwards with her mother, arriving in Namibia five days before independence in March 1990. She attended the Holy Cross Convent and went to high school at St Paul’s College. She then went on to study dance at the University of Cape Town, graduating at the top in 2009. She enjoyed doing well at school but on top of that she did sports and was very active in the arts, especially with dance, acting and fine arts.
In Grade 12 she was voted the Head Girl of her school. She took part in the International Youth Award, which involved doing work in the community. This led to Shityuwete spending many hours at the Central Hospital doing occupational therapy with the children in the terminal ward. “It was very rewarding work but it was also very tough emotionally. I got very attached to many of the children, and it is hard to see people you care about suffering.
This is not to say that I didn’t suffer the angst of teenager-hood. It is a highly developmental time when you are trying to figure out who you are, and what you want to do and I spent many hours wondering if I was making the right choices and setting myself up for the right career,” says Shityuwete.
“I have always been quite an enterprising person. I used to crotchet friendship bracelets and sell them at school, wrap school books at the start of every year for pocket money and baby sit for my parents’ friends,” she says. Shityuwete first proper job was at 16 years at the East End video store. “I can’t remember how I got the job – knowing me I probably just walked in and asked to speak to the manager of the store but it was a great first job and I made some incredible friendships,” she says. Shityuwete first paid job in the arts industry was in the musical ‘The Hot Mikado’ (also when she was 16) directed by Sandy Rudd. “It was my first time doing a big production and I was so overwhelmed to be a part of it. It was an incredible learning experience and ten years later I was able to star in Meme Mia, also directed by Sandy Rudd. There was a lot of hard work in those ten years and it was very gratifying to move from the back of the chorus to centre stage – hard work pays off.”
Shityuwete says there are two things in her life, which have come to define her. The first was her father being diagnosed with cancer when she was at university and coming out of an emotionally abusive relationship. “Trying to deal with my father’s diagnosis whilst also trying to complete my degree is one of the hardest things I have had to do. It was a very difficult period in my life but I am still standing and so is my father. My family is still as close and as strong as ever. I graduated with distinction and after five years of being single after that relationship, I picked myself up, dusted myself off,” she says.
Another challenge that has played an integral role in Shityuwete’s life was getting injured in London. “I had been working 12 hours a day for a year and half, most of the time working for free because I was still trying to build a name for myself in the dance industry in London. But then, I landed my dream job. I auditioned for a company called Ballet Nimba and was successful. It was a fully paid full-time dance job and we were going to tour the UK. “But then I landed badly from a jump. I knew I had hurt myself badly but dancers get easily replaced so I continued dancing on it for a week. I then woke up one morning and couldn’t walk.”
Shityuwete was told she would never dance again and what followed was a year of wheelchairs, leg braces and crutches. She later slipped into depression. “I later saw a doctor at the Roman Catholic Hospital – he told me to go big or go home so I started working out again. I went to the gym every single day and I pushed my body and my knee to the limit. I have been dancing again for two years now and I have a greater love and appreciation for what I am able to do,” she says.
She encourages the youth to be risk takers. “I say work with passion. Work with what you love and don’t necessarily go for things that will make you money or please the people around you. To make money and be secure is important but it is also important to have a balance. Be brave every day and take risks. We have to be brave while we are young.” Shityuwete currently work for a human rights non-governmental organisation (NGO) called Positive Vibes Trust. She also train and perform as a dancer as well as running First Rain Dance Theatre with Haymich Olivier, a new dance studio teaching dance to promising young Namibian dancers and also those seeking to dance for fun.