Born in Soweto, October 16 of 1973, he became interested in dance in the late 1980’s as a means to escape the political tensions growing in his place of birth. He started his formal dance training in 1990 at Moving Into Dance (MID). Maqoma has established himself as an internationally renowned dancer, choreographer, teacher, director and scriptwriter. He founded Vuyani Dance Theatre (VDT) in 1999 when he was undertaking a scholarship at the Performing Arts Research and Training School (PARTS) in Belgium.

Maqoma was Associate Artistic Director of MID 2002 – 2006 and for the FNB Dance Umbrella Festival 2010. He was Artistic Director of the Afro-Vibes Festival in the Netherlands and the UK from 2004 – 2010. Maqoma has served on the dance committee of the South African National Arts Festival 2011 – 2017 and curated the Main Dance Festival Program for 2017. He taught at various universities and schools in Africa, USA and Europe including, University of California, Bates College (USA), Bennington College (USA), University of Minnesota (USA), University of Cape Town (RSA), Ecole des Sables (Senegal), University of Mexico (USA) amongst others.

He has created repertoire for different dance companies internationally, including, Ballet De Lyon, Ballet Black, Via Katlehong amongst others. He was founding Chairperson of the Board of Sustaining Theatre and Dance Foundation (STAND) 2020 – 2022.

Maqoma is a collaborator extraordinaire and has worked with different intergenerational artist on different projects, including Faustin Linyekula, William Kentridge, Akram Khan, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Kwame Kwei-Armah, and protégé Musa Motha.