Dreaming of dancing in New York
After winning the Adult Ballet World Championships in Poland, 18-year-old Shannon Weir has set her sights on another challenge - completing a dance degree in New York City.
Weir also holds the World Championship title for dance, having won the Adult Show Dance – for a dance that told the story of global warming – in Germany in 2012.
She is also ranked in a multitude of South African national dance titles.
The former Dainfern College pupil started her dance training in Grade 8. She has trained in multiple dance styles including ballet, modern, freestyle, jazz, hip-hop and adage.
But New York beckons. She has been accepted to audition at the prestigious Juilliard School in March. Only 24 students will be selected from the 600 hopefuls that Weir is part of. As a back-up, she has also applied to three other New York universities that offer four-year dance degree programmes, and she is on the short-list for each of her choices. She will know at the end of March whether she has been accepted or not.
In the meantime she is training at the Cape Academy of Performing Arts.
If accepted to any of her chosen universities in New York, Weir is expecting her annual tuition fees to be over R600 000.
She is appealing to the public and companies to help her secure a full sponsorship for her four-year programme.
Details: 072 244 3338 or email shanfweir@gmail.com
