West Rand dancers show their talent

Dancers from all over the West Rand headed to the Randfontein Golf Club on 25 May in order to compete in the West Rand Hip Hop Dance Battle.

According to the owner of Mario Gomes Hip Hop Dance Academy, who organised this prestigious event, they saw 186 dancers come through to compete in sections such as solos, duos, crews and mega crews.

The competition saw groups of contemporary dancers taking the stage to showcase their talents.

Each section was divided into beginner or championships and each dancer had to work extremely hard to qualify for the final as only seven dancers were chosen from each round to compete for first place.

“The judges had an extremely tough job as everyone could see the hunger and passion in every little dancer’s face.

“The standard has truly risen on the West Rand and it is great to see that we are moving with the times and moving into new school dance styles,” says Mario.

In the Tiny Tot Hip Hop Boys category, Tristan Vecenzo walked away with the gold while Taissa Ladeira won Juvenille Girls Beginner Hip Hop category.

During the u/11 Duos Beginner Hip Hop Battle Courtney Mostert and Ashley van der Berg took the gold while Terrence Nkwatshirema and Khaya Dlhadlha took first place in the 16 years and older Hip Hop Duos.

Chantelle Botha and Chantelle Bester were the best beginner duo in the 12-15 year category.

Charlene Barnard and L’ray Wiese won the 16 years and older beginner duos and Keira Pienaar and Angelique Botha won the u/11 Champ Hip Hop Duos.

In the 11 to 15 year Champ Hip Hop Duos Angelique Pita and Sharnae Botha took forst place while Chantelle Botha was crowned the best 12 to 15 years beginner hip hop star.

In the 16 years and older male solos, Terrence Nkwatshirema won while Venesh Philemon won this category for the female dancers.

“The seven to nine year old female solos saw a lot of great competition, but in the end Angelique Botha ended in the top spot. Kisha dos Santos won the 10 to 11 year old’s female solos,” says Mario.

The senior beginners, which is for dancers 16 years and older, Jesse Potgieter won while Chantelle van Heerden dominated the 14 to 15 years female solo category.

The Junior Beginner Hip Hop Male was Jaden Smith. The Tiny Tot Hip Hop Female category was dominated by Zhante Hopkins and Sharnae Botha won the 12 to 13 years category with her great solo performance.
Thato Dithebe won the 12 to 15 years male solo category after impressing the judges with his tight routine. The last section was the u/11 Hip Hop Male Solos, which was won by Nicolas Strous.

“The last event of the day was the battle to become Champion of Champions. This event saw about 50 dancers competing for the ultimate position but in the end only one dancer could win this prestigious event. This dancer was Angelo Almeida,” says Mario.