In his latest work, renowned South African dancer Vincent Mantsoe returns to the poverty and squatter camps he grew up in—via dance, at least. His fierce, politically charged solo works NTU and Skwatta are coming to the Firehall Arts Centre from Wednesday to Saturday (February 11 to 14), with the former expressing the sense of worthlessness that can grow out of desperation, while the latter looks at how the human spirit can triumph over that. In case you don’t know his story, Mantsoe grew up in Soweto doing street dance; when he spotted an ad for a dance scholarship, it led to him training as a contemporary dancer—and changed his life. He now travels the world to rave reviews, but apparently hasn’t forgotten his roots.