The Space For Creative Excellence
Alfred Hinkel
Mentor
In 1976 Hinkel established his first dance company, the Namakwalandse Dans Geselskap, in Nababeep and O’okiep in the Northern Cape. This was also the start of his working relationship with John Linden.
Hinkel spent a brief period in Windhoek, Namibia creating a second dance company, the Dial Dance Company, in collaboration with a local dance teacher Dianne Sparks. In 1981 he relocated to Cape Town.
In 1986 he bought the Jazzart Dance Studios from Val Stein. The next two decades saw Hinkel transforming this dance studio into one of South Africa’s premiere performing arts, training and performance institutions - the renamed Jazzart Dance Theatre.
Known for his creativity and commitment to pushing the boundaries of dance, Hinkel’s term as artistic director of Jazzart Dance Theatre represents one of the most important creative, educational and socio-political careers in the history of South African dance. In 2010 Hinkel relocated to his hometown O’okiep in the Northern Cape where he continues to work as a dance educationalist and artist; creating new work, teaching in the communities and training dance professionals of the highest calibre.
John Linden
Creative Director
Linden started his dance training in O’okiep, Namaqualand in 1976 with Alfred Hinkel at the Namakwalandse Dans Geselskap. After this Linden did a stint in Windhoek, Namibia with the Dial Dance Company followed by a few years in Cape Town, Johannesburg and the Wild Coast as a freelance performer before returning to Jazzart Dance Theatre.
In 1986 he became a founder member of the Jazzart Dance Theatre. It was here that he established himself as a performer, teacher and choreographer. In 1996 Linden became the director of Jazzart’s Dance Joint program which offers open dance classes to members of the general public regardless of their levels of experience.
Byron Klassen
Founder Member & Artistic Director Designate
Byron is a founder member of the Garage Dance Ensemble since December 2011 and in this time has distinguished himself as a dancer and teacher of note. Byron was born in Vier Kamp in O’okiep, but he grew up in Eerste River in Cape Town, where he attended high school with Dance Studies as a matriculation subject.
Faroll Coetzee
Dancer/Photographer/Editor
A native of Vier Kamp in O’okiep, Northern Cape, Faroll studied dance with Dawn Langdown at O’okiep High. While still at school he attended extra mural classes at Garage Dance Ensemble with John Linden and Alfred Hinkel. Faroll made his first appearance in a Garage production on stage at the Market Theatre in Johannesburg at the age of 17. In a very short space of time Faroll earned a reputation as a consummate dancer with a particularly wide stylistic range that includes contemporary, tap, acrobatic, urban street and traditional dance with an exceptional flair for improvisation.
Jaime-Lee Hine
Dancer/Teacher
Jaime-Lee was born in Cape Town-Kuils River, graduating from the Western
Cape Sport School in 2015. Although Jaime did not grow up in the Northern Cape her maternal ancestry is from the region.
Jaime-Lee has been with Garage Dance Ensemble since April 2018 when she joined the company as a trainee. Within three years Jaime garnered nation-wide respect and established herself as a dancer, singer, actress to be reckoned with.
Esmé Marthinus
Dancer/Actress
Born in 1976 in O’okiep, Namaqualand, Northern Cape, South Africa, Esmé gained initial experience by working with Dawn Langdown at Namjive (a community based dance programme) from 1997 to 2010. During this period she acquired teaching and performance skills, predominantly but not limited to dance.
She joined Garage Dance Ensemble in 2013 as a wardrobe mistress and community dance teacher.
Al-Jerreau Richards
Finance & Marketing
Born in Nababeep in the Northern Cape, Al-Jerreau graduated from Concordia High School in 2012.
In February 2023 he joined Garage Dance Ensemble as the NAC Help Desk representative. This entailed working alongside Alfred Hinkel, identifying and assisting artists from the Nama-Khoi region to become compliant in order to submit funding applications. This resulted in amongst others a successful application from Nama-Khoi Productions in Sanddrift, Richtersveld.
Bertram Isak
Dancer/Actor
Bertram was born in O’okiep in 1985 and attended primary and high school in the region. While still at O’okiep High he started his dance and theatre training with Dawn Langdown.
2023 saw Bertram travelling with Garage Dance Ensemble on their month long USA tour hosted by Centerstage, as repetiteur and traditional dance workshop presenter. Not only is Bertram a soloist in a local male choir ( O’okiep Male Voices ) he is a skilled teacher of Namastap, a Namaqualand First Nation dance vernacular
