Amanzimtoti ballet starlet to attend New York programme
A talented, graceful ballerina from Amanzimtoti was one of two winners at a recent ballet awards competition.
AN Amanzimtoti teenager’s graceful pirouettes and precise arabesque saw her through as she competed against 30 aspirant young ballerinas at the South African Performance Awards Competition in Hilton recently.
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Kuswag Skool learner, Mieke Bester, was a top winner in the senior category, gracefully walking away with R7 500 to go towards travel costs to attend the American Academy of Ballet (AAB) in New York in July and train at one of the world’s most respected ballet programmes.
Once there, tuition, accommodation, meals and more will be covered for a week. Her teacher, Wendy Reinhardt, was also invited to attend the teachers’ programme at the Summer school in New York.
The competition is run on behalf of the AAB, which hosts competitions and auditions around the world. It is recognised as one of the premier ballet training institutions in the US.
Mieke said that her experience at the awards was an exciting experience and her focus was on enjoying dancing in the moment.
“I felt confident and connected on stage. I felt incredibly grateful and excited finding out I had won and would get the opportunity to train in New York. It’s such an amazing opportunity to learn, grow and be inspired by dancers from around the world. Ballet means a lot to me. It’s something I’ve been doing since I was little and over the years, I’ve fallen in love with it. When I step onto the stage, I feel a sense of joy and peace that’s hard to describe and during my performances, I try to share those emotions and tell a story that audiences can connect with,” said Mieke.
Her journey began at age six, starting out as something fun and evolving into much more than that. Mieke said that it became an intrinsic part of her life.
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