Local dancer takes gold at Dance World Cup
Benoni dancer Codi Passmore (13), a Boat Lake Village resident and a student at Steps School of Dance, recently participated in the Dance World Cup, in Brighton, in England, where he placed first in the Children’s Tap Solo section, beating off stiff competition from dancers from 25 countries, mainly from Europe and Asia.
This is the first time that South Africa has participated in the Dance World Cup, which is held under the auspices of the Dance World Cup Organisation.
The first competition was held in 2009, with the aim of bringing children from around the world together through the language of dance.
Passmore, a learner at Ashton International College, qualified along with four other Benoni dancers: Christian Bailey (14), Colby Abbott (11) and Kira Worrall (11), at the South African Dance World Cup qualifier, held at the Atterbury Theatre, in Pretoria, in March, this year.
The Dance World Cup South African branch awards sponsorships to dancers, as well as the best overall studio, which this year was won by Steps, together with the Megan Rosenberg Studio, from Johannesburg.
Bailey was named Most Outstanding Performer at the South African qualifier, winning a full sponsorship to the finals, in Brighton.
Dancers from South Africa competed across all forms of dance, including ballet and modern.
Together with Bailey, Passmore also came second in the Junior Tap Duos and, together with Worrall and Abbot, achieved another second place, in the Junior Quartet category.
Other results are: Kira Worrall came ninth and Colby Abbot, 14th in the Children’s Tap Solo; Christian Bailey took seventh place in the Junior Tap Solo category.
Worrall also competed in Ballet Solo Section, and came 20th.
Worrall, Abbott and Bailey are all pupils at St Dunstan’s Primary School and College.
