Daveyton dancers pointe forward

Pam Kendall, of Morehill, has been teaching dance for over 35 years and is the owner of Pam’s School of Dance, in Morehill, which offers modern, ballet and acrodance, with the help of her assistant teachers, Robyn Morris, Kirsten Pierce-Jones and Roxanne Carton-Barber.

Kendall has a helper that has worked for her for about 12 years and she, along with her two daughters Lerato Khensane Bila and younger sister Palesa, live with Kendall during the week and head home to Mayfield, Daveyton on weekends.”Because my studio is on my property Khensane and Palesa joined in on the modern and ballet lessons,” said Kendall.

One weekend, the two girls were practicing at their home in Mayfield, Daveyton, and a few girls walking by wanted to join.

“Khensane and Palesa spent their weekends teaching their ballet lessons to their friends for free, as many people living in those areas aren’t able to afford the lessons,” explained Kendall.

Khensane explained, “I started teaching because a lot of my friends in Daveyton have always wanted to dance, but their parents couldn’t afford it, so I just taught them some moves that I was learning from Pam, and they said they enjoyed it, so I continued, and that’s how I started teaching.

“Word got around and soon there were 20 girls coming from all over Daveyton, some taking taxi’s or walking 30 minutes, just to join in on the lessons. “We started in my mother’s garden, explained Khensane, then one of the students’ mothers said we could go to her church, but we didn’t like it there so we started to move around a lot, looking for places to practise, and more people were joining our class from the church and offering places to practise and it just started to grow.

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“Khensane soon realised this was now too big for them to do themselves and they were too young to teach the correct technique without the possibility of hurting the girls. “That’s when they approached me, and when I heard what she was doing in Daveyton and how the children were just streaming in to dance, I felt obliged to follow through and help with this process because of how amazing it was and would be to give all these children an opportunity to dance, said Kendall.Roxanne Carton-Barber (one of Kendall’s assistant teachers) was then brought into the mix by Kendall, and she could not have been happier.”So how I got involved was when the group started to grow, and it was starting to become a much bigger class. Pam and Khensane were both nervous over her not knowing enough to teach the girls and possibly teaching them the wrong technique, which could cause injury, explained Barber, so I was awarded this opportunity to take care of the classes just until Khensane is old enough and more knowledgeable so she may continue teaching.

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“Barber has been running the lessons side by side with Khensane since February 2017 and decided to register them as an NPO Pointe Forward.”She offered to go out to the township every weekend to teach them ballet for free, said Kendall. I saw both of them growing hugely. Khensane gained confidence because in the beginning she was scared to just speak in front of people and here she is running a class and Roxy just keeps endeavouring to make this world a better place, and the more she got involved the more she wanted to do, and help these children.”Khensane is a very good dancer, and I would love for her to continue to take her dancing to a professional level, said Kendall, and inspiring all these kids in Daveyton.

“The children will come to me the following week and show me things they have learnt over one week. The girls I teach every weekend haven’t been able to do what they do over six months. It’s incredible,” said Carton-Barber.

Since then, there are about 40 children who have joined the class and many of the girls have participated in festivals and shows.”Over the time that I have been doing this, there has been incredible improvement. If you can help someone or just make someone happy, then do that,” said Carton-Barber.”Many of my students donated costumes to the Daveyton dancers for their competitions and festivals, explained Kendall.

There is a lot of talented dancers here in Daveyton, all they need is a chance,” said Kendall.

Khensane’s advice: “My advice to anyone who wants to follow their dreams and passions is to never give up and follow your heart always.”Kendall’s advice: “You must go for it, don’t let it slip you by There is nothing in your way, just go for it, you wanted something from the heart well, just have it, have my heart. The purpose of this organisation is not only for the world to realise the kind of talent that there is out there, but to also give the children the opportunity to reach their full potential.
The Pointe Forward association has been put on hold due to the lockdown. The dancers beg you Benoni to adhere to the rules and regulations of the lockdown so that they can get back to chasing their dancing dreams.The Pointe Forward association seeks contributions of any sort towards helping these young dancers reach their full potential. Kendall has sais she would love for the Daveyton dancers to be able to come to her studio in Morehill even if its just once a week, but they would need transport, “Any donations and assistance you can offer the Pointe Forward Dance association, we would be so grateful, said Kendall. Visit their Facebook page “Pointe Forward Dance Association” or email them on pointeforward3@gmail.com for more information or if you would like to assist in anyway.