Associate Professor Jay Pather is Director of the Institute for Creative Arts ICA (formerly GIPCA), Director of Siwela Sonke Dance Theatre, Committee Member for the National Arts Festival and Atistic Director of the Afrovibes Festival; Jay is a Durban- born cultural activist. He obtained an MA from New York University where he studied Dance Theatre as a Fulbright Scholar. He is founding artistic director of Siwela Sonke Dance Theatre established in 1996, and he has produced over fifty new works for this Durban- based company. Since 2006 he has been Associate Professor at the University of Cape Town’s Drama Department.

Jay Pather is the recipient of the 2007 Tunkie Award for Leadership in South African Dance. He also received an award for Outstanding Contribution to Arts and Humanities from UKZN (2007) and a National Heritage Award in 2009. Other awards include the FNB Vita Award for Choreography and in February 2016 he was awarded the rank of Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Minister of Culture and Communication, in recognition of his significant contribution to the arts, literature, or the propagation of these fields.