ASANDA RUDA
Profile: 2025 Standard Bank Young Artist for Dance
By Langelihle Elsie Skade and Nicole Palmer
Thousands of kilometres away from her home in Soweto, South Africa, Asanda Ruda nestled into her chair, her feet casually tucked beneath her as if the world had paused just for her.
The 31-year-old dancer and choreographer, who has been named the 2025 Standard Bank Young Artist Award winner for dance, talked to Grocott’s Mail from Paris, France, about this accolade.
“When receiving the news, I was frozen. Even now, I’m still in disbelief,” she said. Her clothes whispered of ease – soft fabrics draped with quiet confidence – as if comfort were the only statement she needed to make. But living abroad can be a lonely experience. Being away from friends and family can be testing. Ruda feels very proud of her accomplishments but wishes she had loved ones to share them with – celebration is happening far away. “I’m feeling this gratitude and this amazingness but I cannot share this with anyone around me.” Even though Asanda is far from home, she carries home with her. We see it in the way that she speaks and her relatable aura. Full of laughter, she immediately adapts to her audience.
Asanda Ruda’s journey into dance began not with formal training, but with instinct. Growing up, she found solace and strength in movement. “Dance was my safe space. When I was hungry or discouraged, I danced. That’s where I felt whole.” She officially started training at Moving into Dance Mophatong (MID) in Johannesburg after finishing school at 16. Her talent quickly saw her rise through the ranks, joining the junior and then the senior company, and eventually touring internationally. In 2019, Asanda Ruda joined Germany’s Pineapple Dance Company, where she performed throughout the pandemic.
In 2021, she won the Performance and Choreography Award at East Africa’s Beginner Festival, a milestone that prompted her return to solo work. Since then, she has travelled widely across Africa and Europe, deepening her fusion of traditional African and contemporary dance. But what makes her movement unique is its refusal to be boxed into one genre. “I’ve been trained in Zulu, Pantsula, Afrofusion, and some call it contemporary. But I create what feels right,” she says. “My choreography breathes. It flows. It doesn’t need a name.”
There were many moments for this artist when she realised dance could be a career for her. “I have never actually doubted dance as being a part of my life forever. I grew up in a very, very poverty-stricken family,” said the artist as she described dance as her safety haven. “Emotionally – self-esteem and character-building – that’s where I used to run, so I have never doubted it. Dance was my protective system. That was where I always needed to be for me to be safe and complete.”
This is the third of our profiles of this year’s Standard Bank Young Artist Award-winners. We are introducing the six of them to you as part of our build-up to the 51st National Arts Festival.
