Summerhill’s Sahasra Vure celebrates outstanding year in national dance competitions

After successful participation in the National Eisteddfod Competition and the SA Dance Championships, Sahasra Vure, a learner from Summerhill International College, writes: It is my pleasure to share my experience of the National Eisteddfod Competition, specialising in dance.

As a senior student doing my AS Level studies, I initially imagined that the process would be daunting in terms of time and energy constraints. However, today I am happy to say that the commitment was worth it; I am a recipient of some prestigious awards and recognition.

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In late January 2025, my friends and I began dance training under the instruction of our choreographer, Deepa Prasant. Every Sunday, we had to commit two hours to practice, which led to our participation in some events throughout the year.

I believe that this exposure led to more invitations to events and more participation in competitions. 2025 was not our first year of competition; we have been in the dance space for three years, and for me, it has been with the same team.

In addition to the other awards we have won before, this year has been the most successful so far.

The following achievements were the highlights: October 12 won the Diploma award, October 18 won the Gold medal award at the SA Dance Competition, and October 28 won the Ambassador award for being in the top 3% of performers at the national level, at the National Eisteddfod Academy.

I would like to emphasise that the Ambassador award was given in recognition of our top 3% performance achievement among more than 7 000 competitors in South Africa.

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In addition, our dance studio was chosen as the ‘studio of the session.’ It has always been a team effort, and it has not been easy by any means.

For me, the Bharthanatyam dance was the most energy-intensive of them all, and it placed a lot of demand on us as performers. However, we were largely driven by our team spirit, respect for each other, and an insatiable desire to win. And we did it as a team.

I would like to thank everyone who has been with me throughout this journey. This includes my parents, teammates, friends, our dance teacher, Deepa, and my school, Summerhill International College.

I would like to encourage my peers to consider investing some time in trying out some of those seemingly scary activities; you might just discover your hidden talent. From there, it can only be a journey forward. Thank you.

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