Marlie teaches ballet with a twist

When Dance Academy of South Africa (Dasa) launched a contemporary syllabus this year, ballet teacher Marlie van Niekerk introduced it to her academy.

Northern Ballet Academy students. Front: Tehilah Feldman and Gabriella Brooks. Middle: Jolán van Jaarsveld and Kimberley Roodt. Back: Aerin Lotriet and Tara Thompson.

POLOKWANE – Marlie, who is the owner of Northern Ballet Academy, gives classes to students from five years old and older at Body Life in 62 McDonald Street in Flora Park.

“I belong to the Dasa association and they always give new ideas for us to grow our dancers each year and when this opportunity arose, I decided to train more versatile dancers at my academy so they can be better, broader and more experienced dancers,” she said.

Due to its technical similarities, contemporary dance is often perceived to be closely related to modern dance ballet and other classical concert dance styles. In terms of the technique, contemporary dance tends to combine the strong but controlled legwork of ballet with modern dance that stresses on one’s torso.

Northern Ballet Academy students. Sitting: Aerin Lotriet, Tara Thompson, Gabriella Brooks and Jolán van Jaarsveld. Doing leaps: Tehilah Feldman and Kimberley Roodt.

Marlie told Polokwane Observer contemporary dance blends elements of multiple dance styles and lets dancers express emotion through movements and breath.

“The Dasa contemporary syllabus consists of five levels at the moment, and I also offer various styles with ballet classes during the week,” she said.

Now that Marlie added contemporary style in her classes, she can see that dancers express themselves more compared to previous years where they were in a ‘bubble’.

Northern Ballet Academy students, Gabriella Brooks, Tehilah Feldman, Aerin Lotriet, Kimberley Roodt, Jolán van Jaarsveld and Tara Thompson.

“Contemporary dance helps dancers to dig deep within their emotions and express everything they’re feeling through movement,” she said. Marlie explained some of the challenges she goes through in general as a ballet teacher is definitely lack of concentration, but by keeping classes interesting with props and stories help the students to focus more.

She added when concentration is lost in class, dancers can focus on their breathing and take deep breaths. By doing so, it enables dancers to refocus their concentration, and it gets more oxygen into their bodies, which will relax the dancer who will perform better.

“What I love about teaching ballet for the past 12 years is seeing students be better than they were yesterday and seeing them grow into beautiful and experienced dancers each year. I feel so proud every time they achieve goals we set in class,” she said.