A triumphant team of Ballito-based dancers stole the show at the recent Natal Festival of Dance, with an impressive haul of 11 medals won across nine fiercely contested events.
The festival, which ran for three days from August 8-10, was held in Durban and featured over 1000 dancers from across the province in a number of dance categories.
Local dance studios, SWISH, which is part of Showtime with Shine, fielded a team of 14 girls representing the North Coast in one of the province’s biggest annual dance competitions.
The girls, all aged between eight and 13-years-old, enjoyed the pride of the podium, with two bronze, six silver and three gold medals under their belts.
Claudia von Buddenbrock, Lianke de Vries and Camryn Cornelli were crowned champions in the U13 modern trio event with their rich performance of ‘Royals’. Two of these queens of dance also took home gold in the U13 modern duet category, as Cornelli and De Vries pulled the right strings in their act ‘The Puppet’. First place was also enjoyed by Jeanne Verster, who took part in the U11 amateur character modern solo event and won with her title piece ‘Cats Can’t Dance’, which she promptly proved wrong.
More awards came in the form of a silver platter as SWISH took the runner-up position in six tightly fought finals. Teaching their competitors a lesson they will not soon forget, 10 girls schooled their way to silver in the U10 modern group event with their routine ‘Hip to be Square’. Amelie du Plessis, Jeanne Verster, Mia Bullock, Abbey Findlay, Dominic Benningfield, India Jairaijh, Brigitte von Buddenbrock, Caraline Hill, Casey Brent and Ida Jordan edged their opponents to clinch second place in a spirited group performance.
Isabelle du Plessis secured silver in the U11 novice modern character solo finals with her piece ‘Dear Future Husband’, while Amelie du Plessis displayed the power of ambition in her silver winning performance of ‘If You Can Dream’ in the U8 modern contemporary solo event.
India Jairaijh made waves with her performance of ‘The Little Mermaid’, which won her silver in the U11 amateur character modern solo category, while Camryn Cornelli nailed her version of ‘Maleficent’ and took second place in the U14 amateur character modern solo event.
Caraline Hill and Brigitte von Buddenbrock reflected the beauty of dance in their stirring performance of ‘Mirror Image’ in the U10 modern duet finals and took home their hard-earned shiny silver as a result.
Lianke de Vries stood on the podium with her bronze medal winning ‘On the Steps of the Palace’ in the U11 novice modern character solo, while Amelie du Plessis won a bronze medal with her entry of ‘The Lonely Doll’ in the U8 modern character solo.
Owner of Showtime with Shine and trainer of the girls, Catherine Barry, said that the young dancers performed beyond expectation and that the Natal Festival of Dance was a huge success for them and the studios they represent.
“Studios from across KZN entered this prestigious Festival and I am proud to say that our students did an excellent job representing our town,” said Barry, who has high hopes for the girls in future competitions.
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