'My queerness and my Manenberg-ness,' says Adams, 'were things that people asked me to change and minimise all the time… But I realised that so much of what people wanted to silence within me was exactly the thing that I needed to make louder.'
As an artist, dance, educator, choreographer, and project coordinator, Darion Adams (they/them) rightfully describes themself as a “multi-hyphenate dance artist”. Born and raised in Manenberg – a largely impoverished Cape Flats township synonymous with high rates of gang violence – Adams is also the founder of the AIM Society, a community-based initiative which, with often very little in the way of resources, pushes against the trope of Manenberg as a place of crime, violence and hopelessness. Central to the organisation’s ethos is a “commit[ment] to reshaping the cultural landscape of Manenberg through multidisciplinary arts initiatives, including Art in Manenberg and Dance at AIM”.
This hard work is yielding results. Adams’ commitment to not only their craft, but also the community from which they hail, has garnered them notable successes, including being elected by the US Consulate Cape Town for its Economic Development through the Arts Program and travelling across the United States to engage with various arts organisations. More recently, Adams was awarded the prestigious 2025 Pina Bausch Fellowship – a major coup for any dancer.
