Duo aims to make their mark overseas

Dancers Jacky van Staden and Jessica Smith are in the semi-final round of the Talent America 2020 competition.
Talent America 2020 is a virtual competition in which dancers, singers, actors, poets and models can participate.
Participants can enter solo, as part of a duo or a group.
Should van Staden and Smith win this round, they will be eligible to take part in the final in Spain next year.
The pair, who dance with Dance Directions in Springs, qualified for the international competition by winning silver medals in the Nationals 2020 competition in July.

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Van Staden finds participating in a virtual competition a little bit stressful.
“You don’t know who the judges are and you can’t see their reaction to your style of dance,” she said.
Their dance instructor, Mariska Wolmarans, agreed and said competing virtually was much harder than the traditional in-person competition.
“With this being an international competition, the standard is much higher.
“With it being virtual, you also can’t see who you’re up against,” said Wolmarans.
Van Staden likened it to competing against yourself in addition to other dancers.
Smith will be competing in the contemporary category as a solo dancer, while van Staden will be in the Open, doing a Latin-style dance.

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The pair filmed their entry for the competition on Friday afternoon and said their performance was a result of a lot of hard work and collaboration.
Cheering for and supporting the pair was Jessica’s mother, Jana Smith, who was instrumental in doing a lot of work behind the scenes to get them this far.
The results of the semi-finals should be released by the end of November.

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