Lonehill dancers have so much to brag about as they share their latest results
LONEHILL – The young dancers from the Natasha Academy of Dancing studio in Lonehill have had a busy year so far, competing and achieving in the number of competitions.
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The young dancers from the Natasha Academy of Dancing studio, located in Lonehill, have the moves to take on the competition, as evidenced by their activities so far this year.
Natasha Ehlers, the studio’s owner explained, “The studio is affiliated with the Acrobatic Federation of South Africa (Afsa).
“Through this federation, our acrobatic dancers have the opportunity to participate in acrobatic sports competitions whereby they compete and can earn their Central Gauteng regional as well as SA National colours.”
The 21 dancers from the studio were selected to participate in these competitions ranging between six and 16 years old. Dancers compete at a certain level and age group. The first round of competitions started off with a club competition 13 April.
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“We took overall six first placings, five-second placings and three third placings [in this competition].”
Next competition round was the Central Gauteng Regionals competition, held between 15–17 May.
“In summary, we had six first placings, two second placings, and one third placing, and we also took home the trophy awards for the highest overall scores for Level 2 (awarded to Mackenna Ward and Taylor Scholz) and Level 4 (Grace Langton) out of the whole competition, 20 dancers received their Central Gauteng junior colours and 17 dancers qualified to go through to the next round.”
The results were:
• Level 2 – 10 years and under: First place went to Danni-leigh Slater with a score of 9.72
• Level 3 – 11 years and over: First place Amberlee Mathews with a score of 9.13
• Level 2 – eight years and under: First place Taylor Scholz with a score of 9.57
• Level 4 – 11 years and over: First place Grace Langton with a score of 9.80, second place Chelsea Manson with a score of 9.60 and third place Leah Allen with a score of 9.53
• Level 2 – 10 years and under: First placeReese McCabe with a score of 9.48
• Level 2 – 11 years and over: First place Mackenna Ward with a score of 9.57, second place Morgan Allen with a score of 9.40.
The following dancers received their Central Gauteng junior colours: Amy Scot, Mila Knipe, Jayden de Wet, Emma McDonald, Nonjabulo Vilakazi, Busisiwe Buthelezi, Leah Henderson, Ntiyiso Nkuna, Fallyn Braum, Taylor Scholz, Kyla Hegland, Mackenna Ward, Morgan Allen, Reese McCabe, Amberlee Mathews, Danni-leigh Slater, Chelsea Manson, Grace Langton, Elsie Munyaneza and Leah Allen.
“Next round of competitions was the Inter-provincial Championships 27 May– June (semi-nationals) where the whole country competes and the Top 15 dancers with the highest scores qualify to go through to the final stage of the competitions, SA Nationals. We got overall two first placings, five-second placings and one-third placing (there were over 30 dancers per section who competed).
“Four of our dancers qualified to go through to the SA National Championships.”
The results were:
• Level 2 – 10 years and under: Second place Reese McCabe with a score of 9.37
• Level 3 – 11 years and over: Second place Amberlee Mathews with a score of 8.98
• Level 2 – 11 years and over: First place Mackenna Ward with a score of 9.37, second place Morgan Allen with a score of 9.28
• Level 4 – 11 years and over: First place Grace Langton with a score of 9.62, third place Chelsea Manson with a score of 9.58
• Level 4 – 10 years and under: Second place Danni-leigh Slater with a score of 9.62
• Level 2 – eight years and under: Second place Taylor Scholz with a score of 9.37
• SA National Championships dancers selected: Danni-leigh Slater, Grace Langton, Chelsea Manson, and Elsie Munyaneza. (These dancers received their SA National junior colours.)
“The final competition was the SA National Championships and took place on 7 June. Grace Langton won first place for Level 4 and is the SA National Champion. Fourth place was awarded to Chelsea Manson and fifth place went to Danni-Leigh Slater.
“All acrobatic dancers also recently did their AFSA acrobatic dance exams, and the studio received a 100 per cent pass rate on these exams with 28 dancers obtaining distinctions. We also had our modern dancers who did their modern dance exams with a 100 per cent pass rate as well.
“We as Natasha Academy of Dancing have a plea towards anyone that will be willing to sponsor our dance flooring in the studio. We are situated inside Lonehill Shopping Centre in Fourways and we desperately need the flooring of the studio to be re-done.”
Details: Natasha Ehlers natashaacademyofdancing@gmail.com; 082 293 7975; 066 364 7324.
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