Rediscovering a love for dance [Watch]

From Cape Town to Shanghai and beyond, Westbrook ballerina Michelle Stegen Gilder has danced her way across the globe.

A recent North Coast resident, Michelle and her husband Andrew – who is also a dancer – last year opened a ballet studio to train the next generation in Salt Rock.

Originally from Durban, she began dancing aged four, instantly finding an affinity and talent for the art form.

“My mom was a fan of dance, which I think helped because she always supported my passion. At the start I tried everything that was available, from tap, to acrobatic, abstract and modern,” said Michelle.

She competed in multiple disciplines throughout school at the Natal Dance Festival, eventually winning the Jimmy Bolton trophy for most versatile dancer.

But it was always ballet that held her fascination, particularly after she was cast in a Playhouse Dance Company performance of Jean Paul Comelin’s Firebird.

“Dancing came relatively easy to me when I was young, but ballet never was. I guess I chose it because it was difficult and represented something for me to work at and overcome,” she said.

She went on to study towards a dance teacher’s diploma at the University of Cape Town, graduating with a distinction in classical ballet, before being accepted to the Cape Town City Ballet.

Suddenly she was a full-time dancer in a professional company, getting to know the daily life of a ballerina which includes six days a week of practice before a typically two-week run of a production.

Dancers generally start in the corps de ballet, after which they are promoted to demi-soloist, soloist and eventually principal dancer.

“I was there for four years and became a senior soloist, dancing in such roles as the Gypsy Girl in Two Pigeons, Spanish in The Nutcracker and the Queen of the Willis in Giselle.”

After leaving the Cape Town City Ballet, Michelle wanted to travel and ended up as part of the pas de deux (ballet duo) at a resort company in Turkey, before joining the Costa Classica cruise liner as a performer.

“It was intense because of the constant performances, but I loved every part of it and getting to see the world!”

She would return to South Africa after two years away, later marrying Andrew and working in the events industry in Johannesburg for 15 years.

After Michelle was laid off in the Covid-affected 2021, the couple returned home to KwaZulu-Natal and back to dance too, completing a full circle back to their original passion.

They opened the Stegen Gilder Dance Studio in Salt Rock in November last year, hosting classes for everyone from first time dancers to adults.

“I was reminded how much I loved dance and why I loved it to begin with. Now I get to share that with the next generation, what a privilege.”

Alongside professional dance teachers Robin van Wyk and Johnny Bovang, they will host the Dolphin Coast Winter Ballet Focus in June.

For more information on the event or the studio, visit the Stegen Gilder Ballet, Salt Rock Facebook page.

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