Fundraiser for young dancers a success
Tadiwa Banda and Chelsea Delport will compete in the Champions of All competition, and if they win, they will qualify for the World Artistic Dance Federation championships next year.
The Diversion Dance Academy studio was abuzz with activity on July 8 during a ladies morning fundraiser for young dancers, Chelsea Delport (7) and Tadiwa Banda (6), who will participate in the SA Dance Festival Championships in Port Edward in October.
The guests were entertained to a dance repertoire by Chelsea and Tadiwa. Guest speaker, Verna Rheeders Mulder, whose child passed away after suffering brain damage, was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer and had to undergo a double mastectomy, shared her struggles and how she overcame them.
Organised by Chelsea’s mom, Nadia, the event attracted a number of local ladies who braved the morning chill to help the girls attend the championships, which they’ve been preparing for since January.
“The event well. It was lots of fun and the ladies enjoyed it. Both the girls are passionate dancers and they are best friends,” Nadia said.
The girls qualified for this competition earlier this year after placing in the top three in a regional competition.
They started dancing in pre-school as part of instructor, Chantelle Jansen van Vuuren’s Buzzy Bee Dance pre-school programme. They moved to Diversion Dance Academy last year.
“If you look at their first photos when they started and compare them to what they are doing now, it’s absolutely amazing. They have put in a tremendous amount of work in their craft.
“I spotted Chelsea during the Buzzy Bee Dance programme and called her to tell her that she’s got the potential. Tadiwa danced a pre-school. One day she popped into the studio to see what we were doing. She ended up joining and it all just went great,” said Jansen van Vuuren.
According to Jansen van Vuuren, if they do well in the championships they will go on to compete in the world championships next year.
“They’ll do between six and seven routines. They will also do a few solos each and different genres like contemporary, jazz and hip-hop. We hope they qualify. To get them further would be amazing,” she said.
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