She’s passionate, dedicated, and captivating. Multi-award winning South African-born singer and composer Tsidii Le Loka puts her whole heart into each performance.
Perhaps best known for her lead role as “Rafiki” in the Broadway’s “The Lion King,” where she sang the “Circle of Life,” Tsidii credits her passion to her South African roots and her life experiences.
Her elegant and dignified demeanor inspires everyone in the room to hold their head up high, and her energy and drive are contagious.
“It isn’t even about me, it’s my culture,” said Tsidii, who currently resides in Queens, New York. “That’s the nature of my culture. It’s not something that we think about. It’s just who we are. Nelson Mandela is Nelson Mandela because he comes from that dignity of a culture. Go to South Africa and experience it.”
Tsidii has performed with many big names, including Dionne Warwick, Elton John, and Sting. As a princess from South Africa, she grew up during the apartheid, which lasted between 1948 and 1994. The experiences she gained during the difficult times in her life have nonetheless helped her grow as a person, she said.
“The environment I grew up in—the adversities and indignities I had to go through in my life are not something that will ever be forgotten no matter what. It shapes your understanding and your clarity in many, many ways.”
In her latest project, Tsidii has worked on producing “To the Rising Sun,” a performance which brings together the music of three remarkable women—Odetta Holmes, who is credited with bringing jazz to the West, jazz-soul singer Nina Simone, and South African singer Miriam Makeba, who was exiled during the apartheid.
The show, which will be performed at the Queens Theatre this October, delves into the lives of these three women who stood up for human rights during the apartheid and the civil rights movement in the 1960s.
“They happen to be women of color, but the message is universal,” Tsidii said. “They are women who stood for dignity and freedom. That, I think, is colorless. It’s cultureless.”
Tsidii describes the performance as powerful music that she feels great pleasure to perform, saying, “It’s got substance.”
“It’s very much a characteristic of the cultures that they came from. … [Those] people, through strife, maintained a sense of humor, radiance, a zest for life, and a strength that is beyond comprehension, when you look at the reality of what they were having to spiritually triumph over,” she noted.
Sitting across from Tsidii, one can tell that she shares a great exuberance for life with the characters she portrays.
“I refuse to sit and cry all day long, life’s too short. When you’ve gone through a lot, you realize that not to have a sense of humor—what a loss,” she said. “We sometimes forget to have gratitude in our lives.”
Performing came naturally, Tsidii said, as she intuitively knew that it was her calling. There is a “more powerful force” at play, directing one’s spirit to where it needs to go, she said.
“Have you ever felt like you are in a river that’s running, and by the time you open your eyes and realize that you’re alive, the river [has] moved you in a direction, and there’s nothing you could do about it?” she asked. “No matter what you do, you just have to go that way.”
WORLD CUP
With the World Cup in South Africa, Tsidii will be joining other South African artists in a musical celebration by performing a special concert this Tuesday in New York City at the City Winery.
“I thought it would be a fantastic moment to sing some songs that give us that worldly experience. It’s not only songs of South Africa, but … music we don’t hear much of,” Tsidii said.
The audience can expect the music to move the soul and provide a sense of joyfulness, she said.
“Songs that are familiar, [and] songs that are not. Either way, something to move to,” she added.
Perhaps best known for her lead role as “Rafiki” in the Broadway’s “The Lion King,” where she sang the “Circle of Life,” Tsidii credits her passion to her South African roots and her life experiences.
Her elegant and dignified demeanor inspires everyone in the room to hold their head up high, and her energy and drive are contagious.
“It isn’t even about me, it’s my culture,” said Tsidii, who currently resides in Queens, New York. “That’s the nature of my culture. It’s not something that we think about. It’s just who we are. Nelson Mandela is Nelson Mandela because he comes from that dignity of a culture. Go to South Africa and experience it.”
Tsidii has performed with many big names, including Dionne Warwick, Elton John, and Sting. As a princess from South Africa, she grew up during the apartheid, which lasted between 1948 and 1994. The experiences she gained during the difficult times in her life have nonetheless helped her grow as a person, she said.
“The environment I grew up in—the adversities and indignities I had to go through in my life are not something that will ever be forgotten no matter what. It shapes your understanding and your clarity in many, many ways.”
In her latest project, Tsidii has worked on producing “To the Rising Sun,” a performance which brings together the music of three remarkable women—Odetta Holmes, who is credited with bringing jazz to the West, jazz-soul singer Nina Simone, and South African singer Miriam Makeba, who was exiled during the apartheid.
The show, which will be performed at the Queens Theatre this October, delves into the lives of these three women who stood up for human rights during the apartheid and the civil rights movement in the 1960s.
“They happen to be women of color, but the message is universal,” Tsidii said. “They are women who stood for dignity and freedom. That, I think, is colorless. It’s cultureless.”
Tsidii describes the performance as powerful music that she feels great pleasure to perform, saying, “It’s got substance.”
“It’s very much a characteristic of the cultures that they came from. … [Those] people, through strife, maintained a sense of humor, radiance, a zest for life, and a strength that is beyond comprehension, when you look at the reality of what they were having to spiritually triumph over,” she noted.
Sitting across from Tsidii, one can tell that she shares a great exuberance for life with the characters she portrays.
“I refuse to sit and cry all day long, life’s too short. When you’ve gone through a lot, you realize that not to have a sense of humor—what a loss,” she said. “We sometimes forget to have gratitude in our lives.”
Performing came naturally, Tsidii said, as she intuitively knew that it was her calling. There is a “more powerful force” at play, directing one’s spirit to where it needs to go, she said.
“Have you ever felt like you are in a river that’s running, and by the time you open your eyes and realize that you’re alive, the river [has] moved you in a direction, and there’s nothing you could do about it?” she asked. “No matter what you do, you just have to go that way.”
WORLD CUP
With the World Cup in South Africa, Tsidii will be joining other South African artists in a musical celebration by performing a special concert this Tuesday in New York City at the City Winery.
“I thought it would be a fantastic moment to sing some songs that give us that worldly experience. It’s not only songs of South Africa, but … music we don’t hear much of,” Tsidii said.
The audience can expect the music to move the soul and provide a sense of joyfulness, she said.
“Songs that are familiar, [and] songs that are not. Either way, something to move to,” she added.
The Tsidii and Friends in Concert will take place at the City Winery in Manhattan this Tuesday, June 22 at 6:00 pm.
