Judges announced for ACT Scholarships Programme awards

The final event, which will be hosted by UJ Arts & Culture at the University of Johannesburg, will see six finalists showcasing their acting, dancing and singing abilities to a live audience and an independent panel of judges as they compete to win one of three performing arts scholarships, with a combined value of R315,000.

The judges

The 2013 panel of judges comprises Kgomotso Christopher, Rozanne Bishop, Jennis Williamson, David April, Nacia Kruger and Themi Venturas:

• She may be best-known to South African audiences as Katlego Sibeko on SABC3's Isidingo, but the glamorous and graceful actress Kgomotso Christopher is also a voice-over artist, MC and academic and has extensive international experience behind the scenes in the television industry.
  
• Rozanne Bishop/McKenzie is a bilingual presenter, MC and voiceover artist based in Johannesburg. She is an anchor on Dagbreek, a daily live Afrikaans breakfast show and is also a field presenter on the popular Afrikaans magazine show Kwêla, both on Kyknet.
  
• Manager of Talent Etc, Jennis Williamson, is thoroughly acquainted with the South African entertainment industry and brings valuable expertise, knowledge and specialist management skills to the table, both in this capacity, and from his experience as an actor and dancer/choreographer.
  
• David April is the creative entrepreneurial officer (CEO) of David April, an arts consultancy for project management, entertainment, fundraising, education and training. April has a reputation for innovation and excellence and is passionate about arts and culture development.
  
• After completing a BA Degree in Tourism & Recreation at the North-West University, Nacia Kruger decided to follow her dream and in 2004 obtained her National Diploma in Musical Theatre from Pretoria Technikon (now Tswhane University of Technology). Nacia is a well-known face in musical theatre circles, works regularly as an actress and voice-over artist, and has also made her mark as a director. Nacia joined The Playhouse in 2011, opening branches in Pretoria and recently in Cape Town.
  
• Themi Venturas has an Honours degree in Performing Arts from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He spent six years as head of Productions at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre Company at UKZN, followed by four years as the Community Programme director at the then Natal Performing Arts Council (now known as the Playhouse Company). Venturas has been an independent producer and owner of Themi Venturas Productions since 1993. In 2002 he built his own theatre, the Catalina Theatre at Wilson's Wharf in Durban. Venturas is also a freelance director and has received three Lifetime Achievement awards. He is a board member of the Arts & Culture Trust, the CEO of TheatreBIZ and was the PANSA KZN chairperson for a number of years.

For more information on the Scholarships Programme, go to www.act.org.za.