J & C Dance Creations shine at Gauteng regional competition
Dancers now move on to interprovincial and national competitions held in Centurion
With mere decimal points the difference, winners bend their bodies through sheer power of will.
The limber acrosport ladies of J & C Dance Creations stormed the stage of the Acrobatic Federation of South Africa’s Central Gauteng Regional competition, 5 and 6 June, bringing home an impressive haul of silverware. Competing against clubs from across Johannesburg, the intense solo battles brought out the best in the performers from the Without Street-based studio.
The level of competition was of such an exemplary standard that even a score of 9.01 by Level 5 dancer, Hade-Mari van Graan, was not enough to earn herself a podium placing. Dancers are split into levels based not on age, but on proficiency in executing the skeletal-warping poses. Acrosport is not the fast-paced whirling on a dancefloor but the controlled display of form and technique.
J & C would grab eight podium placings, with one bronze, three silver and four gold medals. Level 10 Isabella Swart earned third place with a score of 8.03 while Allegra Gordon in Level 8, and Jodi Goodall in the Elite level earned silver medals with scores of 9.40 and 9.07 each. Elite Advance level dancer Shalati Khosa would card J & C’s highest score on the day, but her outstanding 9.92 would be just 0.003 points shy of a gold medal in her category.
Amelie Raats in Level 2 and Teegan Gooding in Level 7 were the first to climb to the top of the podium with their 7.47 and 9.58 scores, respectively. The studio’s highest winning score would come from Michaela Scheepers in Level 8 with a 9.65, and Isabella Jansen van Vuuren’s Level 9 score of 9.62 saw her add another glittering trophy to her growing collection of accolades.
“We are all so very proud of all of them. They have been training so hard since January and they really deserve their medals,” said owner and coach, Jackie McGinn. Next up, Levels 1 to7 will go on to represent Central Gauteng at the inter-provincials from 18 to 24 June, while Level 8 to Elite Advanced will represent Central Gauteng at South African Nationals in Centurion on 2 and 3 July.
