July 12, 2007
By Millicent Kgowedi
INSTRUCTORS are being trained to teach more than 9 000 young children ballroom, Latin, freestyle and hip-hop dance.
Selected tutors are hard at work, perfecting their dancing skills in Soweto, under the tutelage of dancers Richman Nhlapo and Pamela Watkins. The International Dance Company of South Africa (IDCSA) identified the six candidates for free dance training, to enable them to teach underprivileged children in the townships.
"We are very excited to have Richman [Nhlapo], who has been dancing for a very long time and is also one of the South African champions, as our teachers," said Jef d'Engle, the director of and media liaison for the IDCSA. "He is already teaching children from Orange Farm, where he stays."
However, more teachers were needed to reach the target of teaching 9 000 children professional dance over the next five years.
"Because the teachers are going to play an important role in the lives of these children, we are looking for individuals who are strong, idealistic and compassionate. They don't have to be someone who has been dancing for decades, but can be someone who has a great interest in dance and can learn fast," he said.
The IDCSA is running the project in partnership with the City's department of arts, culture and heritage services. Underprivileged children from the age of four years will be targeted for instruction; some of the dance styles that will be taught include ballroom, Latin, freestyle and hip-hop.
The children will be taught to dance over the next five years. Children who learned to dance developed more self-confidence, improved social and interpersonal skills, self-discipline and resistance to alcohol, drugs and crime, D'Engle said.
Young dancers will start their dancing classes as soon as more township venues are identified and sponsors have been found that will help the IDCSA to pay the teachers who have completed their training and are taking children for lessons.
"The arts, culture and heritage services department of Joburg will be helping us with funding of venues [but] we are still in need of sponsors. We would like this project to go national and getting assistance from corporate companies will help us to extend our operations. As soon as we get funding to train more teachers, we will start classes."
In addition to the search for teachers, sponsors and children keen on dance, ballroom and Latin American dancers over 18 are wanted. These selected candidates will form a team that will perform in shows and compete across the country, as well as represent South Africa internationally.
"People who qualify for the team must be of at least gold standard because with them, we expect the participants to know the dance rules already."
Explaining the age requirement for the dance team, D'Engle pointed out that classes would be very extensive and time consuming. "We want people who are out of school because training times are long and those who are in school will miss a lot of classes."
For more information contact the International Dance Company South Africa on 082 702 2355, between 10am and 4pm on week days.
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