Johaar Mosaval persevered in the face of prejudice, inspired SA’s most famous heart surgeon and captivated a queen. He spoke to Eugenie du Preez about his remarkable career.
Dr Johaar Mosaval is honoured with a special ballet, Dreaming Dance in District Six-The Johaar Mosaval Story at Opera House of the KunsteKaap Theatre Complex on March 01, 2023 in Cape Town, South Africa.On 7 May 2018, News24 published an interview with Johaar Mosaval. AsJohaar Mosaval persevered in the face of prejudice, inspired SA's most famous heart surgeon and captivated a queen. He spoke to Eugenie du Preez about his remarkable career.
Belying his 90 years, his slim body still has a dancer’s erect posture. He is patient and courteous with admirers who clamour for selfies, and is clearly a much-loved figure among those who know and remember him.Speaking about his youth, Johaar tells how he was summoned by the two leading imams at the Azzavia Muslim school he was attending. His photo had appeared on the front page of a weekly paper, and they were keen to find out what ballet was.
"I thought to myself 'I am going to take some magic out of the book’ and give the doll a heart. I showed the heart that I was going to give Coppélia to the audience , and pushed it into her body." When the doll suddenly came to life and started to dance like a human being, tells Johaar, the young Christiaan “"as so enraptured that he said to himself 'I think I’m going to do heart surgery'.
But it took time to sink in:"One of those things always on my mind was that I am now free, but I still had the fear of opening my mouth at the wrong time – that was with me for a very long time." PERTH, AUSTRALIA - MAY 1984: Alan Alder, Lucette Aldous and Johaar Mosaval in May 1984 in Perth, Australia.When Johaar came back to South Africa in 1976 after 25 years with the Royal Ballet, with the ink barely dry on a teaching qualification created especially for him, he was in for a rude awakening. “I was restricted, even where salary was concerned, and that for me was disgusting.”
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