Assagay teen loves to move

Assagay resident, Erin Barnard (16) is currently performing in the popular dance show, Shall We Dance, at the Playhouse Theatre as part of Mark Wilson’s dance company.

“This is my first Shall We Dance and I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t nervous and exited. Once I got the opening number out the way on the first night, a jive to the song Happy, I started to relax and have fun!”

“I really enjoy movement, I have to move!” he enthuses. “I feel most centred when I’m moving, like I‘m at my highest potential. I think I was born to move one way or another. With dancing the challenge of having to move as one with someone else is exciting.”

The energetic dancer is also a keen, self-taught Parkour enthusiast. Parkour is a freestyle discipline that combines running, climbing, swinging, vaulting, free style aerial jumping, and rolling that allows you to move around mostly urban spaces in the most efficient manner possible.

“Parkour and Freerunning gives me a sense of freedom. I know that I can get out of and into any situation I desire no matter what obstacles are in my way, whether it be physical or mental. Parkour is not a sport in the traditional sense as we don’t compete with others, we compete with ourselves to always do better, go a little further, a little higher, pushing all the time to improve on something.”

Erin got into dancing at the age of 12 when the dance studio his aunt attended needed more male dancers.

“My mom said I would love to go meanwhile I had no interest to do it. I got forced to go anyway. I was so nervous. It turned out I loved it just as much as I love jumping on my trampoline and tracing. With my movement background I learnt the basics quite fast too.”

Tracing is the term he uses for when he does a Parkour run through the bush or urban area mixing it up with a flip or somersault every now and again.

“I am an extremely cautious person. Most people don’t think so if or when they watch me. They think I’m being reckless and stupid when they see me doing Parkour or Freerunning. What they don’t know is that I spend a lot of time assessing the environment before I do anything, I am paranoid that way, it must be safe or I don’t want to do it.”

Erin who is home schooled, has a busy lifestyle with other hobbies and interests including traditional longbow archery, hiking, camping, mountain biking, knife making and Scouts.

“I enjoy all aspects of Scouts but I have to admit I mostly enjoy the hikes in the Drakensberg Mountains.”

Future goals include learning to speak his ancestral languages that include Dutch, German and French and becoming a sports chiropractor.

“I would like to be able to travel around the world to go and meet professional Freerunners and Parkour enthusiasts and help them recover from injuries or just generally improve their skill from a medical perspective, because I know how much I love to move and how important it is to me to do so safely.”

Erin believes in seeking to improve oneself on a daily basis.

“The only person you should be better than, is the person you were yesterday. I don’t mean you have to be twice the person you were yesterday, I just mean improve on something every day.”