Pretoria’s dance champion in the spotlight

Pretoria’s own Patrick Swayze, 44-year-old Ryno van den Berg, is hands down one of the best South African dancers.

Rekord had a chat with this reigning SA Latin American dance champion about the next chapter of his dancing career: dancing on cruise lines around the world.

How did Latin American dancing cross your path?

I watched the movie Dirty Dancing many times and always hoped to one day dance like Patrick Swayze. I was a drummer in the Air Force marching band and many afternoons I would see another band member jumping over the camp fence and catching a ride to Sunnyside where local dance studio, Dance Well Studios was located. When I asked him about it, he told me he was a dancer and teacher. I eventually begged him to take me with him and not long after that we were both jumping over the fence to catch a ride to the studio. I got bitten by the dancing bug and three months later my teacher asked me to also become a teacher. I later joined Fred Astaire Dance Studios where I decided to become more involved with competitive dancing as a career. I danced my first international competition in 1994. It took me 10 years to move up from last place in SA to the overall first place dancer in the country. I have been undefeated since 2004.

As a dancer, you have travelled the world and explored destinations like France, Moscow, the Netherlands, England, Hong Kong, USA and many more. What has been your favourite city and what place would you not visit again?

The country I enjoyed visiting most is Italy because of the atmosphere and people. My favourite city is Innsbruck in Austria because of the absolute beauty, the food and the “old style” to the city — it is like a fairy tale. I did not enjoy travelling to Germany and the city I disliked the most was New York — one does not realise how dirty, messy, noisy and overrated this city is.

You have been performing on the Princess Cruises cruise line for the past 7 months and will be leaving for the Caribbean in November. Why did you initially join the cruise ship?

I have been competing most of my career. To keep up with the competitions, dancing outfits, and lessons with coaches, I have decided to find another way to earn money instead of running a dancing studio. Making a living and financing your dancing career from a dance studio has become almost impossible in SA. Also, I had always wanted to dance on cruise ships and my ship eventually came in in March.

In the past few months you have visited Hawaii, Tahiti, Bora Bora and Alaska. How is life on board the ship and seeing these places?

The best part is being paid to live in paradise. Life on board a cruise ship is surreal. This should be the dream for any dancer who comes to the closing stage of his competitive career. For a dancer who is not ready to stop dancing and still wants to perform, this is the ideal world. After living in the US (New York and California) for more than a year, we finally got our lucky break when Princess Cruise Lines called us for a contract to perform on the French Polynesian. When on board, we are not crew, but guest entertainers. This means we have passenger status. We wine and dine, socialise, and use all facilities passengers do. We are basically celebrities on board. We perform our shows on a daily basis and teach dancing. The ships are basically like a small town on water. It has shopping malls, restaurants, theaters, gyms, ballroom halls, spa’s, casinos, bars and movies. Visiting these exotic islands is mind-blowing. Working on a ship as crew members is not easy, but as guest entertainers it is very pleasant. The only shock we experience is when our contracts expire and we suddenly go back to a “normal” life.

Having lived in the Jacaranda city for years, do you ever get homesick?

As much as it is wonderful travelling the world and seeing all these places there is in my opinion no place I would rather live in than SA. Except perhaps Italy if I have to. I miss Pretoria mainly because of my friends, family, the weather and food (braaivleis and pap) our friendly people, Jacaranda trees and of course the space. I also miss our culture — it is not superficial or fake.

Explain why you say there is hope for competitive dancers whose careers have ended?

After a competitive dancing career there are only a few options for dancers. One is to open a dance studio which is very painful for a dancer who still wants to dance, perform and possibly compete. Another is to become a choreographer or go into judging and moving towards TV programmes and dance with celebrities. I have discovered that dancing on the cruise lines is a fantastic way for dancers to still stay in the spotlight. I have come across some dancers that have become bitter; either because they have not achieved their goals, run out of partners, had no money to continue or closed their studios and left the dancing industry. I believe, no matter whether you compete or not, if you are a passionate dancer, cruise lines are the best way forward. You travel the world, get paid to do what you love and get to perform for thousands of passengers who appreciate good dancing.

Have you hung up your competitive dancing shoes for good?

No, I am still competing. I have just partnered up with Russian dancer Elena Tokarenko and we are planning to make a return to the floor during the Asian Tour at the end of February 2015, after a year break from competitions. We both want to compete for at least another two to three years.

What is still ahead for you in the world of dancing?

A few years ago I remember writing a plan of where I wanted to be in the next five years. Now when I look back, I am not even there yet. Why? Because the journey keeps changing all the time. Unexpected things happen and you just don’t have control over it. So now I have decided to have only short term goals and let the road ahead of me open up as it should be. I remember I wanted to stop dancing at 38 and I am now 44 and still dancing. I stopped planning because it does not work out. Now I only focus on now.