Hoërskool Randburg alumnus named top dancer by the Gauteng Department of Education

Marissa van den Berg, a Hoërskool Randburg alumnus, has been crowned the top dance learner of 2024 by the Gauteng Department of Education.
She achieved a score of 98% in dance in the matric final exams.

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Marissa said that she was grateful that her three years of extremely hard work had been recognised. “I was hoping for this more than expecting to get it, as my final mark was 98%, but the possibility is always there that someone got a higher mark,” she said.“I am very proud of myself and my dance teacher at school, Yolande van Niekerk and my dance teacher at the studio, Jayd Swart, as both of them have invested much time in me.”

Marissa put a lot of hard work into preparation for the final examination. For the practical side, she danced at least five hours a day and had to choreograph a group piece.
“My group piece consisted of nine dancers and was 12 minutes long, which took a lot of hard work and extra rehearsal times; at the weirdest times as the rehearsals had to fit into everybody’s schedules. For the theory side, I also had to study very hard and put in many late nights of studying.”

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As she embarks on a dance career, the talented dancer will join the Dart Dance Company in Germany in its prestigious professional dance programme this year.

“I have one big competition left in South Africa, the International Dance Open South Africa, and I am also doing my Solo Seal ballet exam just before I leave for Germany at the end of August.”

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