Writing
Experiences: Lebo Disele
Lebogang Disele PhD student at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. Originally from Botswana, she is graduate of the University of Cape Town (BA Film and Media Production [Radio], BA Honours [Drama]), as well as the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg (MA Dramatic Arts) – both in South Africa.
She is an all-round theatre maker although her main areas of focus are acting and directing. Before leaving to pursue her PhD, she was actively involved in helping develop the performing arts industry in Botswana. This includes being a dancer with Sky Blue Dance Hub from its inception until April 2015, performing in the company’s first production, Keneilwe - A Dance for the Given in December 2013 and at the 2014 Maitisong Festival, as well as the 2015 Maitisong Festival production, X. Other performance credits include the 2013 Maitisong headlining show, Pula! Money Matters, playing several characters, and Madi Majwana: Stories from your Pocket radio drama in 2014 and 2015. Since 2016 she has focused on growing her company, The LC Performance Lab, through which she has produced three performances to date.
As an academic, Lebo is interested in work that explores issues of marginalisation, discrimination, prejudice, and oppression, especially in relation to gender. Her other major research interest is documenting Botswana theatre and performance. Her publications include “In Conversation: Interrogating and Shifting Societal Perceptions of Women in Botswana through Theatre” in African Theatre 14: Contemporary Women; as well as “Searching for a Place: Identity and Displacement at the Maitisong Festival” in a special edition of Pula: Botswana Journal of African Studies and “Towards Sustainability in the Theatre: A look at The Company@Maitisong” in Botswana Notes and Records.
Lebo is excited to be part of Cop 23 because of her interest in post-colonial research, in particular inserting African voices, experiences and knowledge into the global, sociopolitical conversation.