BaNtu Waltz

In Africa, it is said that each person has a rhythm to which she alone dances. Nya Okatsa found hers in the early play-songs of the Jackson 5 within which she'd received the call to 'bring salvation back'. To an impressionable young girl born in colonial Kenya, trapped for 9 months each year in a British legacy boarding school, the 'Sounds of Young America' were irresistible. As her beloved kuka (grandfather) and earthly guardian constantly reminded her, Nya isn't just any girl. She carries the legendary spirit of Nyabingi, an anti-colonial cultural icon after whom she was named, which adds to the gravitas of her quest when she ultimately travels from Kenya to America as an adult music scholar to fulfill her role in the cultural pact of UbuNtu she believed she'd made back in the day. The story of BaNtu Waltz traces the highs and lows Nya encounters during her American odyssey, including the shocking turning point and cultural reckoning that MJ's blockbuster release of 'Thriller' becomes for her. During the crisis of faith that follows, Nya eventually meets Malik Nangwiro - an aspiring Master Drummer who's been on his own challenging journey. As the two join forces and Malik rekindles Nya's drum, they're able to decode the message of salvation that causes their cultural shroud to finally lift. Twin Souls reunite and ascend to their higher timeline as Nya's dance at last reconciles with its true rhythm. "BaNtu Waltz: Nya's Archangel Story" will appeal to audiences who enjoy a multilayered love story told within the industrialized 3D universe of Black popular music on one hand (Michael Jackson fans), and the tensions created by the deeper cultural mandates of African oral traditions on the other. The two protagonists - Nya (dancer) and Malik (aspiring Master Drummer) - must meaningfully reconcile these cultural tensions and recalibrate their personal lives to navigate their conjoined Truth, Life Mission, and Destined Love.