An angel’s expression with movement

Angel Mashishi is smart, dedicated and can bust many a move on the dance floor. The 14-year-old student from Charter College recently competed in the South African Championships of Performing Arts, and is a member of the national team to perform in the World Championships of Performing Arts in Los Angeles in 2022.

Angel started dancing when she was three years old. “My mom just enrolled me because she thought it would be a good extra activity for me to do. I started off doing ballet and I did that until I was seven years old, but then I stopped doing dance until Grade 3.” She said she didn’t want to pursue ballet any longer and moved on to slow dance and freestyle.

“My childhood best friend had been dancing at a particular studio so I decided I wanted to go there. They specialised in slow dance and freestyle.”

She described dancing as a way to express herself, as she pours out all her emotions and feelings while dancing. “When I get to the studio and I am feeling upset or maybe I am just really happy or angry, I can go out there and take out my emotions.” The dancer goes to the studio at least two to three times a week, “… but I try my best to practise every day; especially now that I have been in more competitions,” she laughed.

In her studio competitions she has won five gold, four silver and three bronze medals. Nationally, she has bagged silver and gold. “At my recent competition I didn’t get any medals but I did make it into the SA team for dance. It feels really amazing. I wasn’t expecting it because when we were at the award ceremony, I didn’t get any medals, which made me quite upset. The next morning, when my mom called me to tell me that I had made it into the SA team, I actually cried because I was so happy.”

The SA team will compete at the World Championships of Performing Arts in July 2022, which she sees as an exciting opportunity. “I am just proud and thankful to have a supportive team around me.” She is looking forward to training and practising with world-renowned choreographers at the boot camps.

“Nervous, happy and excited,” that’s how the dancer described being on stage. However, when the pandemic hit, opportunities to be on stage were scarce, and so were practising in studio. Classes had to be moved online, and it was difficult to learn new moves and techniques when the teacher was not physically present.

The Honeydew resident revealed that the type of dance she finds challenging is freestyle. “It’s extremely fast and to have to do so many tricks so fast, keep your speed and not get tired – that’s the hardest for me.”

She plans to get a scholarship at a really good dance academy in the US. Getting her degree is high on her list of things to do and achieve, and so is becoming a choreographer.

“I definitely have to put school first and balance everything around school. I’ve had to tell my coaches that I could only do dance at specific times because of assignments, and they are very understanding. But sometimes, if I struggle to juggle it all, I do my homework in the dance studio when I am on break,” she laughed.