Ekurhuleni tap dancers bring championship medals to SA
Three tap dancers from Ekurhuleni bring home bronze and silver medals while making history at the World Tap Dance Championships in Prague.
A trio of tap dancers from Ekurhuleni proudly flew the South African flag at the International Dance Organisation (IDO) World Tap Dance Championships in Prague.
The championships took place from October 22 to 25.
Madison Versfeld, who dances for Red Robynne Studios in Bedfordview, dominated the adult solo categories alongside siblings Madeline and Luke Scrase from Benoni.
Kerry-Ann Scrase of The Word Workshop reported that over 1,700 dancers from 21 countries competed for top honours at the event.
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The IDO World Tap Dance Championships is the most prestigious gathering of tap dancers globally.
Kerry-Ann said Madison capped off a remarkable two days by winning the Battle of the Feet contest.
She explained, “This is a freestyle dance-off where judges give dancers a tempo and they are required to improvise in front of a live audience for a certain number of counts.
“It evaluates timing, technique, and innovativeness and stems from the long history of ‘jamming,’ a tradition in tap dancing. This is the first time a South African dancer has ever won this contest.”
Kerry-Ann shared that Madeline took the bronze, becoming second vice world champion in the adult female solo category, placing third out of 45 competitors. Madison and Luke dominated the male adult solo category, taking silver and bronze respectively, to be crowned vice and second vice world champion.
“This is the first time South Africa has had two tap dance athletes reach a solo final and podium (second and third out of 27),” she said.
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Furthermore, Madeline and Luke reached the finals of the adult duo category, placing sixth out of 37. It was a historic moment, marking the first time in 14 years that South Africa had a duo in the finals at the IDO World Tap Dance Championships.
In summary, four dances represented South Africa in the finals:
Madison – second place, adult male solos
Madeline – third place, adult female solos
Luke – third place, adult male solos
Madeline and Luke – sixth place, adult duets
Kerry-Ann noted that this is the third time Madeline has reached the podium, having taken silver in 2022 and bronze in 2023, both in the adult solo category.
Madison has also made several finals, reaching the podium in the junior category in 2018. Luke has also reached junior finals, placing fourth in 2022.
