Dancer glides like hot butter on pancakes
As a teenager, Jay used to attend school dances and watch in awe as his friends pulled out some of their best dance moves.
The beautiful art of ballroom and Latin dancing has the potential to take students on a journey of courage, self-discovery and authenticity. When local dancer, Jay Mohammed was only 14, he set out on a journey that would change his life.
As a teenager, Jay used to attend school dances and watch in awe as his friends pulled out some of their best dance moves. Soon, he became interested in the art and rather than just watching, he analysed his classmates’ moves.
“My mother told me to take a broom and a chair and practise with it – and so I did. However, it wasn’t enough. At the time it was a fortunate coincidence that one of my friends’ sisters enjoyed dancing too. We checked out a lot of dancing studios together, and I was always asking her to come dance with me at dancing events,” Jay said.
Before he knew it, he was gliding across the dance floor like hot butter on pancakes. The spotlight followed him at every event, and as soon as he stepped onto the dance floor, everyone stopped to watch. Jay taught himself the art of ballroom and Latin dancing, and soon there was nothing any studio could teach him.
“I enjoy the Dirty Dancing stuff. I love the crazy lifts and the enticing dips – that’s my scene. My friends and I went to most dance studios across Gauteng and we discovered that everyone has a different idea of ballroom and Latin dancing. I stuck to my techniques, and what I believed to be the official steps of the art,” he said.
Without having attended any classes, he started dancing competitively in 2011 and soon became an untrained champion. In September 2019 he founded Saint Ballroom where he teaches ballroom and Latin dancing, should the level of lockdown allow it. Just before Covid-19, four of his students achieved gold when they competed on national level.
Jay takes pride in coaching someone who has never danced before, and transforming them into South African champions. He also mentioned that Saint Ballroom received the Highest Honour Award at last year’s National Eisteddfod of South Africa.
“The pandemic opened my eyes. I saw a lot of people and studios struggling during this time. That’s why I came up with the initiative of starting an NPO – Saint Ballroom Foundation – not only to serve a selected community, but the entire community. I aim to follow a policy of no discrimination on grounds of disability, gender, race, age and social background, among other things,” Jay said.
“We raise funds to support our students where possible. Recently we’ve managed to equip one of our students who lost both parents with dancing outfits and shoes. And that’s what it’s all about; to be able to help.”
One of his biggest dreams is to improve the level of ballroom and Latin dancing techniques in South Africa, and to see dancing accredited as a formal qualification to enable illiterate people to achieve more in life.
If you wish to find out more about Jay’s dancing studio, feel free to visit his Facebook page, Saint Ballroom.
