He has the dancing world at his feet and wants to showcase his talent to the world.
This is Justone du Plessis (19), a Lambton resident, dancer and part-time instructor at Live to Dance, located in Lambton.
The talented youngster jets off to Croatia today (Saturday) to participate in the DanceStar World Finals, a prestigious international competition.
“I am ecstatic and so excited to be representing South Africa at the competition,” Justone said.
Justone qualified to compete in the open, jazz and modern sections at the competition.
“In order to qualify, you have to achieve 75 per cent or above during the qualifying rounds,” he said.
Justone started dancing at the age of 15 and enjoys freestyle, slow-dance, jazz and modern.
“I am mainly self-taught, learning from YouTube videos and dancing on the grass at my home in Richards Bay in KwaZulu-Natal.
“In October 2015, I moved to Gauteng and started dancing at Diana Moore Dance World, but I still watched YouTube videos and learnt from them as well,” said Justone.
“I didn’t really have money to pay for lessons, so I had to stop.”
The lack of funds has not held Justone back and he has already won a number of prestigious titles.
He won the SA Freestyle Championships two years in a row (in 2016 and 2017) and is thinking about competing in the competition again this year.
“In 2016, I was the first-ever freestyle dancer to compete against the championship dancers while still a novice and win,” he said.
He also came fourth in the world for modern in 2018 when he competed in Poland.
“That was such a great and inspiring experience.
“It was wonderful to watch dancers from all over the world showcase their talents,” he said.
Justone is now taught by the owner of Live to Dance, Sasha-Lee Herbst, and works as a part-time instructor at the studio.
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“Justone is the hardest-working dancer I have every come across.
“His passion shines through his eyes when he dances,” said Sasha-Lee.
“He has worked so hard to get to where he is now and to get through difficult circumstances.
“He deserves everything good that is coming his way as he has worked so hard for it.”
Justone said that he aims to become a choreographer one day and travel the world doing choreography for various artists.
He would also like to go and dance on cruise liners.
“Dancing is very therapeutic. It helps relieve my stress and allows me to let go,” Justone said.
In the build-up to DanceStar, Justone has been training every night and perfecting his technique.
He will return to South Africa on May 28.
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