WATCH: Meet SA’s youngest world champions

THEY chose an unrecognised dance form in South Africa but in the rest of the world, they are the world champions of exhibition dancing.

After recently flying back from the Netherlands, Birchleigh resident Gerhard van Rooyen and his partner, Amore Kruger, are over the moon to have been named the world champions at the The Dutch Open World Exhibition Championships on November 15.

Being one of only two dance couples who participate in this dance style and also the youngest, Van Rooyen and Kruger were also crowned number 1 at the World British open Exhibition Dance competition last year, an event where only eight couples in the world were invited to participate.

“It feels absolutely amazing to win a competition like this, especially because back in our country, this kind of dancing is unrecognised. So it really means a lot to us when the rest of the world can acknowledge and appreciate our talent,” Van Rooyen said.

Owing to the fact that the dance form is not popular in SA, it makes it difficult to find sponsors and people who are willing to invest in them.

“So we basically have to do all the fundraising ourselves: from the travelling and accommodation costs when we go to these competitions overseas, to the costumes and make-up. And it is extremely expensive.”

The 25-year-old Van Rooyen started dancing at 15 to impress a girl he had a crush on, who asked him to be her partner at a competition. He laughed shyly as recalled the story:

“She had a Rock n Roll (freestyle) competition do to. And I agreed because I liked her. But doing that competition was the best decision of my life because it helped me discover my passion. After participating in the first competition and realising how few boys actually danced, I decided this was what I wanted to do.”

He started doing a variety of dance forms, from Latin, hip hop, freestyle to even ballroom, and by the time he was 18, he was third in the world for freestyle dancing.

As a way of spreading his love for and belief in dance, Van Rooyen started his own dance studio in his backyard at home, where he teaches dancing and also has fitness classes.

“I have over 50 students who have joined the studio, from kids as young as two and a half to middle aged men and women. The kids have also started doing competitions this year and some of them made it into the finals.”

He tries to develop younger generations to do this kind of dance so it becomes more recognised. Also, he thinks dance is actually a gentleman’s sport and more guys should do it.

“It keeps you in great shape and is way better than rugby, which is considered to be a man’s sport. Which is not true because with rugby the men touch each other a lot, with dancing, I’ve only ever touched girls, so as opposed to popular thinking, dancing is a man’s dream. I’m in heaven,” he says with a mischievous grin on his face.

Watch Van Rooyen and Kruger dancing at the Dutch Open World Exhibition Championships on November 15.