Arne is passionate about life, dance and music

MEET concert pianist, dancer and parkour enthusiast, Arne Janse van Rensburg, who stars in this year’s Shall We Dance, at the Playhouse Opera from 5 to 13 September.

The 20-year-old gentle giant, explained that parkour is a freestyle discipline that allows you to move around mostly urban spaces in the most efficient manner possible.

“It is a combination of running, climbing, swinging, vaulting, jumping, and rolling. The world becomes your obstacle course and we revel in moving through it,” he said.

Arne said parkour is one of his many hobbies. Apart from building general health, fitness and strength, the art of parkour gives him an immense feeling of freedom to move over obstacles at a high speed and with little effort.

Arne’s outdoor hobbies reveal that he is an avid surfer as well as an off-road cyclist. However he’s considered dancing a hobby mostly. “I’ve been playing piano since I was nine and mean to carry on with it. I’d like to travel the world playing smaller recitals in as many different countries as possible,” he added.

Apart from doing some minor demos and competitions he hasn’t been on the stage for any major performances, but he is still young. “I don’t think it’s possible to pinpoint what makes me love playing piano, it’s something that comes from the heart and thus difficult to describe. I can name some things I do ‘consciously’ enjoy though, which obviously starts with the music itself. I’m a big fan of nearly any music written before around 1900. I generally don’t like modern music much even though I dance to it,” he said.

“The complicated theory bordering mathematical genius behind old music completely fascinates me, the way composers turned theories into something that speaks to the heart in such a powerful way is something I can’t quite fathom. Figuring out those ideas and working them into my performance through practice is a huge amount of pleasure as well,” he added.

He was encouraged by his parents to dance as they believe that dancing should be part of a person’s education, for mental and social growth. “The first time I danced was rather awkward in more than one way. Perhaps for a teenage boy the most daunting thing about dancing is the close contact with girls, and that combined with strange leg movements you’ve never done before can become a lot to get your mind around when first starting,” he said smiling.

Arne is an enthusiastic hobbyist. He’s spent time stargazing, doing archery, snake hunting, breeding snakes as well as rehabilitating and removing them from homes or gardens. He also enjoys building 1700s trading ship models, and photography which has now almost evolved into a profession for him.

Arne will take to the stage for his first ever performance in Shall We Dance this Friday. Tickets range from R70 to R130 each for shows at 7.30pm daily. Booking is through Computicket on 0861 915 8000.