At the start of this year, while MOYA was receiving standing ovations in theatres across Europe, our training space in Cape Town was slowly filling up again.
Suitcases were being unpacked on one side of the world while takkies were being tied for the first time in weeks on the other. I feel that image captures the essence of Zip Zap in 2026: we are constantly moving between global stages and local realities, and each one exists because of the other.
That is Zip Zap’s ecosystem.
January is always a powerful month for us. After the pause of the holidays, the Academy comes alive again. Dare2Dream students return for orientation. New faces arrive. Returning students greet each other with the easy familiarity that tells you this is more than a programme. We welcome individuals and groups of people using our Academy as a training centre. It is a place of belonging.
There is something profound about that first week back. The stretching. The energy. The laughter. The visible growth in bodies and confidence that has matured over the break. For many of our young people, this is the moment when structure, purpose, and community come back into focus. It is not simply about learning circus skills. It is about being seen again, being held in a positive environment, and being reminded: you matter here.
When an audience in Europe or any other country where we perform rises to its feet at the end of a performance, they are not only applauding the production. They are affirming years of training, mentorship, discipline, and belief that began in a young person who walked into our space, often unsure of their own potential. Every moment on tour is connected to a child in Khayelitsha, Delft, or the inner city who is discovering their strength for the first time.
And then there is the reality that makes all of this possible.
Touring internationally is not separate from our social impact; it sustains it. Fundraising is not an add-on to our work; it is the lifeline that keeps the doors open. Our tax year-end campaign and our auction this month are as much a part of our mission as any class or performance. Access to our programmes has always been at the heart of what we do, and access requires a network of partners and supporters who believe that every young person deserves the opportunity to discover their potential.
What people see on stage is the celebration.
What they do not always see is the daily, consistent, deeply committed work behind it: the staff and coaches who show up every day, the programme coordinators who navigate complex logistics, the administrative teams who keep the organisation moving, the donors and partners who choose to invest in long-term change.
This year has already reminded me that Zip Zap is not defined by a single moment or a single success. It is defined by continuity. A young person starts in a community programme. They grow into Dare2Dream. They perform locally. They may join a professional production. One day, they are on an international stage. And then they return, not only with new skills, but as role models and teachers for the next generation.
That cycle is the real performance. As we prepare for Dare2Dream to present at the MERAKI Dance Festival at Artscape, I am reminded again that every time our young people step onto a stage, they carry more than just choreography. I am proud of all the instructors currently teaching the younger generation; most of them have been through many of our programmes. They are carrying their stories, their communities, and the possibility of what the arts can do in a society that urgently needs spaces of hope and transformation.
Written by Laurence Estève
The first two months of this year have been full. Full of movement, full of reconnection, full of growth.
But more than that, they have been a powerful affirmation of why we do this work.
Zip Zap exists to create pathways, from uncertainty to confidence, from isolation to belonging, from potential to opportunity. Whether that pathway begins in a clinic, a school hall, our training space, or a theatre in Europe, it leads to the same place: a young person standing taller in their own life.
