Vuyokazi Ngemntu (alias Dejavu Tafari) has been involved in the performing arts since her high school days. Her work fuses elements of physical theatre, contemporary live performance, music and story-telling to deliver impassioned and poignant social commentary. She has performed on various platforms including Speak The Mind Poetry Extravaganza (2009), The National Parliament’s Tribute To Women Event (2010), Badilisha Poetry’s 100 000 Poets for Change (2011), Woman To Woman (2012) and The Artscape Humanities Women In Art Festival (2013). Other artistic milestones include performing at the Austin International Poetry Festival as the International Guest Poet in 2016 co-writing and staging a two-hander entitled ‘iNgoma’, which was a collaboration with another spoken word artist.
Aside from being published in the above-mentioned festival’s ‘Di-Verse-City anthology, her poetry has been longlisted for the Sol Plaatje European Union Award and published in their anthology in both 2016 and 2017 respectively. Following a year’s internship with the Physical Theatre company Magnet Theatre, where she facilitated lessons in Creative Writing and Drama, her poetry has recently been incorporated in a production entitled ‘Okwe Bhokhwe’, which had a run at the main stage of last year’s ( 2019) National Arts Festival in Makhanda. That production was nominated for this year’s Fleur de Cap Theatre Awards under the ‘Best Script’ category.