As actress, dancer and singer, Sibulele Gcilitshana talks us through her journey in the arts. She has had roles on Soul City , Grassroots and, more recently, The Station as well as Gootboom and Sons – among many others.
The best way to start my day is through exercising. I’m back at it now as I’d been off this for a while due to work. We couldn’t really commit to it while shooting Grassroots because I actually [woke] up at 4: 00, arrive on set between 5: 00 plus 5: 30, and the camera has to roll at least after 7: 00. Before that, there has been breakfast, wardrobe and make-up. By the time you wrap for the day, you’re just too tired plus must rest because tomorrow is still another day of shooting.
I feel truly alive when I sing. From as early as grade 3, I was already in the choir. We were seven years old, but We still remember singing and how the music spoke to me. I went on to study music theory in quality 7, plus it had just already been introduced as a subject at school — that is when the particular artistry within me started blossoming.
I actually loved music in school so much that will it was the only subject I aced. I know how to write music using notes, and I know the piano quite well because that has been where I started. We then continued to create music exams with The Associated Board associated with the Royal Schools of Music in London. They’d post my papers and I’d be invigilated and adjudicated alone. I actually obtained Music Theory certificates from grade 1 in order to 5 for.
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Songs remains the basis of everything I do due to the fact, a lot of times, the work will be soundtracked by a song. I honestly believe that I was born to act and perform — I think that’s why it’s still the particular only job that I do. My gift just led me to where I am today. Nobody in my family is an artist – they are either teachers or lawyers.
Even during career guidance, nobody spoke about dancing because a profession, or being a singer or even actor. When I was applying for university, I came across the course called Musical Theatre, which involved singing, acting and dancing. The 17-year-old me was like, ‘I think I have these talents’. Mind you, I’d never been to a single acting or dance class in our life, but I just saw myself being able to do it. We went to a good audition with regard to the course at the then Pretoria Technikon, accompanied by my mother, and was accepted on the particular spot.
I actually didn’t even know that will the course was starting in two days. I’d never been to Pretoria or even Johannesburg before, but the mother had to leave me personally in Pretoria. All I had was a change of clothes! The then HOD for the Dance plus Musical Theater Department, and now late Vicki Karras, believed in myself so much that she not only helped my mom with my preparations for varsity, but the girl also paid for our meal card – and that’s exactly how my journey started.
I did consider quitting the artistry just right after finishing my degree. The particular first year out associated with university had been rough. Actually the idea of getting an agent was daunting. One needed to possess access in order to a fax machine so that when you finally did get an agent, they could fax you the brief for an audition. The briefs were faxed to my sister’s workplace, where I’d pick them up after taking a bus or taxi to get there. It was such a tedious process that I has been constantly asking myself, ‘What is this? What have got I gotten myself into?
And I was the first person to choose this particular career path in my family, so I didn’t have a frame of reference. And even when I’d land a job, they were for just a week or a day, to a point that it began not making sense. However, thanks to talks with the agent plus other professionals that I met in auditions, We slowly learned that this was the nature of the game.
The biggest lesson was learning survive on an inconsistent income. Even though it would be a lump sum, I couldn’t get as well excited and blow it. I actually had in order to stretch it out since I did not know whenever I’d property the next job.
There’s definitely an autobiography within me. One of the chapters would be known as The Cult of Fame . There’d also be one called The particular Young Mother , plus the third one would be regarding being simply aware – being aware of who you are, the energy around you, and what your presence could be bringing in to someone else’s life.
I dealt with the lot of things when I was still very young. We leaped directly into a lot of situations that some may have gradually been introduced to. And because of this, I skipped a few stages on the way to adulting. This, after that, needed me personally to reflect on these stages so that the lack thereof would not morph straight into undesirable characteristics. So , I’d like to talk about the particular love and understanding associated with self. The only reason many people have a list of stuff they don’t love about themselves is because we still do not understand that we are usually unique within our own way, plus that’s okay!
I have only recently embraced that will I’m actually amazing . For the longest time, I actually was always told that my sisters are brilliant. This, then, made myself believe that will I had been just an average child. The older I grew, as well as the more my talents were applauded, the more I actually started appreciating my own work. My parents never blatantly said I used to be average, but each time the report cards came, I felt the different emotions mine was met with compared to my sisters’. This made me conscious of how We raise our daughters. I actually affirm all of them every single day, not really with simply my words but my actions too.
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