Dancing duo ‘locked down’ from competing this year

It is clear when you look at Caity Scheepers (17) and Megan de Beer (18) that once you are a dancer, you will always be a dancer.
Both girls have this contagious energy between them and have been dancing from a young age. Megan started dancing at the age of two and a half years old and Caity at the age of eight. Both girls began their dancing careers with Stepping Out Dance Academy, which is affiliated with ADPA, and they are still an integral part of the dance school.

Their first duet was in 2015 when they competed at the South African Dance Institute’s (SADI) national competition. The hip-hop dance ‘Peanut Butter Jelly’, their all-time favourite dance and own choreography, guaranteed the duo a double gold medal and a special award. During the competition, they were also selected for the South African team to participate in Dubai.
In the five years of this dynamite pair’s dancing, they have competed in nine national competitions such as Moov, Eisteddfod and ADPA, and won most of the dance styles in those competitions. The girls’ favourite dance styles are hip-hop and contemporary, since both are very expressive. With hip-hop, they have to show some attitude, which the girls enjoy. With contemporary, they have to tell a story through their dance moves. The two girls each have their own strengths, which contributes to the perfect match. Megan says that Caity has an energetic vibe and a huge personality, and that they understand each other’s personalities.

Caity, on the other hand, reckons that Megan is like a sister with a very strong personality. They have endless fun together and at the same time, Megan inspires Caity to work even harder. Caity confesses that Megan is strict at times, but that is the reason why she has so much respect for her.
The two girls motivate and challenge each other constantly while they work out their own choreography. There is no jealousy between them, since they are each other’s biggest supporters and fans. Unfortunately, this is the duo’s last year of dancing together, since Megan is in Grade 12 and will trade South Africa for America next year to be an au pair and hopefully join a dance studio to further her career. Caity still has no idea what she wants to study, but does know that she wants a dance studio on the side, regardless of her career.

Lockdown has taken its toll on the girls, since it left them unmotivated after long hours of hard work and then unable to compete in all the national dance competitions this year. The girls have also been in the ADPA dance teacher’s programme for the past three years, and lockdown has literally locked them down on continuing with the programme thus far.
Marina de Beer, owner and the girls’ dance teacher, is still confident that they will be able to complete their certifications as dance teachers this year. Caity is currently teaching hip-hop to the junior classes, and Megan teaches contemporary and hip-hop to the senior classes. During lockdown, they taught Zoom classes, but it became difficult since they couldn’t interact with their students to correct them on their moves. This left them very negative, but it didn’t stop them from dancing.

When asked why they choose to dance, their answer was unanimous: ‘Dancing teaches you self-respect, commitment and discipline’.
These two girls are an inspiration to many at the dance school and their message to all young girls and dancers out there is: “Don’t doubt yourself and quit; keep going and don’t let people drag you down in life. Be yourself.”
We hope to see these young ladies in the future, either on a stage in Hollywood or on television, because they surely have the motivation and determination to make it in the tremendously competitive world of dance.

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