Young dancers from the Natasha Academy of Dancing studio, based at the Lonehill Shopping Centre have been dancing up a storm.
They recently competed in three dance competitions between September and October – the American Dance Awards in Pretoria (19 to 25 September), the Concours Dance Festival in Johannesburg (1 to 5 October) and most recently the Acrobatic Federation of South Africa (AFSA) Acrobatic Festival of South Africa from 19 to 20 and 26 to 27 October. This is only the second year of the studio running (since opening its doors in January last year) and yet they still achieved such great results.
Natasha Ehlers, the studio owner and dance teacher with the academy, said, “All the dancers truly worked so hard and I am beyond proud of their achievements. They continue to fly our flag high. It has always been my dream to open up my own dance studio and thanks to my dancers this dream has realised.
“My passion for dancing shines through my dancers, and I continue every day to teach them the joy it brings to our hearts!”
Here are some of the results from the most recent Acrobatics Federation of South Africa Acrobatic Festival of South Africa, held in late October:
Overall Awards:
- Amateur All Round 11 and under winner – Danni-Leigh Slater
- Amateur All Round 12 and U13 winner Grace Langton
- Amateur All Round 12 and U13 runner-up – Chelsea Manson
- Special mention Best Choreography Character ‘Medusa’ – Danni-Leigh Slater
- Special mention Outstanding Group Choreography – the Machine group.
More dancers given special awards:
- Leah Allen and Lallyn Braum for their acrobatic duet – stunning choreography, all-rounded excellence with great transitions
- Jungle Fever acrobatics group – appealing attire
- Katlego Phefadu – strong trick ability for a four-year-old
- Danni-Leigh Slater – excellent portrayal of Medusa and brilliant acting. Danni-Leigh also received the ‘The World Is Waiting for You!’ award
- Morgan Allen – striking performance
- Grace Langton – beautiful performance and great transitions
- Leah Allen – sustained and energetic performance.
Medals and placings for solos:
- Danni-Leigh Slater interpretation (A++ and first)
- Isla McGregor (B)
- Katlego Phefadu (A and third)
- Emma McDonald (A and second)
- Leah Henderson (A)
- Ntiyiso Nkuna (A and third)
- Busiswe Buthelezi (A and second)
- Kyla Hegland interpretation (A & third)
- Leah Henderson interpretation (A and third)
- Taylor Scholz interpretation (A and first)
- Elsie Munyaneza (B+)
- Fallyn Braum (B+)
- Taylor Scholz straight (A and third)
- Leah Allen character (B)
- Danni-Leigh Slater character (A++ and first)
- Grace Langton character (A+ and first)
- Chelsea Manson character (A)
- Amberlee Mathews character (A+ and second)
- Morgan Allen (A and third)
- Kyla Hegland straight (B+)
- Mackenna Ward (B+)
- Noa Myburgh (B); Reese McCabe (B)
- Danni-Leigh Slater straight (A++ and first)
- Grace Langton straight (A++ and first)
- Chelsea Manson straight (A+ and second)
- Amberlee Mathews straight (A)
- Leah Allen straight (A+ and second).
“We will also be doing some outreach work to communities before the end of the year,” Ehlers explained. “This year for Christmas we have decided to do a Santa Shoebox drive and we have selected the Westbury community to donate these boxes to.
“We will also donate some proceeds from our year-end show towards the ‘dancers love dogs’ project and make our rounds to old age homes with some dance performances. It is so important that we as dance studio give back to the community in every way we can!”
To see the rest of the winners from the Natasha Academy of Dancing, please see the Fourways Review website.
Details: www.natashaacademy.co.za; natashaacademyofdancing@gmail.com; 082 293 7975.
Do you have some outstanding sporting results that you would like to see in the Fourways Review? Get in touch by emailing fourwaysr@caxton.co.za
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