Toti dancers have reaped the rewards of hard work leading up to the Talent Africa national championships at the Roodepoort Theatre in Johannesburg from 24 to 29 March.
The 28 dancers from Fancy Feet Dance Studio in Warner Beach scooped four gold and three silver medals in seven items.
There are five teachers in the studio, who all specialise in different dance styles, such as modern, tap, hip hop and Latin. All the teachers also took part in the nationals and have been invited to represent South Africa and take part in the Talent America competition in New York with their dance ‘Like Tina’, which was choreographed by Jade Terblanche.
Local dancers claimed gold for their dance routines, ‘Too Sweet’ (6 to 8 years), ‘T Birds (12 to 14 years) and ‘Like Tina’ (18 to 24 years), as well as the only soloist, Cheralee Pontes for her tap routine.
“I was surprised to win my category,” said Cheralee, who was the first member when the studio opened in 2010. “I’ve worked very hard for it. The plan is to get to New York in June,” said the talented Toti dancer, who started tapping at the age of nine.
Kaylin Venter, who coached Cheralee, as well as the routine ‘T Birds’ and silver medallists’ routines ‘Splashing Around’ and ‘Flappers and Fans’ said she was extremely proud of her dancers. “To do this well for the first time of competing in a competition of this size, our dancers have done truly well. They worked very hard and deserve this.”
Coach of the little members who did the ‘Too Sweet’ routine, Melanie Slier was ecstatic at her little charges’ win. “I was absolutely thrilled and could not believe it,” she said. “I was so proud of how they conducted themselves and they were not overawed by the size of the stage they had to perform on.”
Most of them have been dancing for about three years, but the youngest, Tannah Aissing (5) has only been for eight months.
Dancers first had to advance from the regional round, held in Toti in October, and for the first time in KZN, before performing at nationals on Friday, 27 March.
They then performed at a gala performance the next day, before they heard whether they had made the grade.
“We had to wait until midnight to hear whether they had made it through,” said Melanie. “On Sunday, they received their medals at prizegiving.”
Unfortunately, it does not seem possible for the little dancers to perform in New York due to lack of financial resources.
“We are grateful to the Toti community for assisting us with our fundraising to get to the nationals,” said Melanie.
