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Letters & DanceTalk - January 2002
like to order the Belly Dancing video Dear Jay
I would like to order the Belly Dancing video. I live in Cape Town, what would the cost be including postage?Many thanks,
Nicky
Ed
The person to contact for the Belly Dancing video is Phyllis @ (011) 787 6880 or 083 377 8964 Fax: (011) 781 3819. Here's her webpage on my site.Belly Dancing has become very popular as a mild but thorough, enjoyable form of exercise, particularly in Gauteng and the States.
6 April we are having a dinner dance in Zim Hi Jay
Still in the land of the living. Just to let you know that on 6 April we are having a dinner dance. Two couples from the U.K. will be coming out and will do a ballroom and a latin demonstration.Trust that 2002 will be a happy and successful year for you.
Kind regards, Ken Scott
Ed
Yip Ken, looong looong time. How's Zim... stupid Q, but nice to hear from you again. Do you still get SA adjudicators judging for you these days. We miss the dance news from your part of Africa, it's time to write regularly.R3000 beautiful ballroom dress, with feathers, for R350 Hi J
Because of a major change in my life, I've decided to sell my R3000 ballroom dress, with feathers, for R350. Could you please advertise this special on your site in the "Bargain Buys" section.Argentinean Tango community vibrant and growing in Cape Town Dear Jay,
This is, in part, a repeat of my email of the 2nd January, my computer was a little weird and I think perhaps you did not get that mail.
So, I wish you continued success with your tough, forthright and informative Dance Info SA for 2002.After an emotional parting from the super people of Johannesburg, I have come to a great welcome here in Cape Town. What can I say? Life is Dance Connected!
The Argentinean Tango community here in Cape Town is also vibrant and growing. Due to the inspired work of Mark Hoeben actor/trainer. Besides regular teaching, Practicas and Salons, Mark has often hosted visiting tango masters.
The November workshop with Eric saw many Johannesburg tango students joining Cape Town tango lovers mixing and sharing knowledge - inspiring!
Cape Town has hosted Paul Asche giving a workshop on Argentinean Waltz, and Daniel Canuti conducting Tango and Milonga workshops.
The tango classes and Salons that I will be holding will be complimentary to Mark’s classes to ensure that its beneficial to the dance and the Cape dance community. I will also be teaching Tango in Centurion (Pretoria) one weekend per month and I look forward to these classes doing much to forge great tango links between the cities.
We encourage travelers to Cape Town and Johannesburg to take a class or join a practica or Salon.Email Mareli at schroter@mweb.co.za or call: Mareli cell. 082 220 8445, Mark cell. 082 853 8572, Robert (Johannesburg) cell. 083 582 7991, Tanz Cafe Johannesburg 463 3128.
Fond regards, Mareli
Ed
Mareli, good to hear from you again. I'm sure there were many heartbreaks at your farewell, because you established a large and unique A Tango following in Gauteng at Tanz Café. Glad you will still be keeping contact our way once a month. Thanks for the info.2001 Rama SA Pro Latin Championships held at Carnival City's Big Top Arena Hi J,
I have just read Ryno's opinion of the 2001 Rama SA Professional Championships that were held at Carnival City's Big Top Arena. I attended the event as a keen social dancer as I had heard that some of the country's best professionals would be there. I am a social dancer and new to the competitive scene, the only other competitive event I had seen up till then had been the Star Champs held in Alberton in August or September 2001 and those Amateurs had impressed me a great deal.Anyway, the tickets to this do cost me fifty bucks each, and I booked on the day that the bookings opened as I wanted to get front row seats for me and my two friends who graciously volunteered to go with me. Booking early meant I had the choice of where I could sit and I chose seats in the front row, next to the marshaling area - that place where the dancers gather before going onto the floor.
Sharon, Clarette and myself had a picnic on the way over from Pretoria to Brakpan as we were under the impression that the competition started at 09:30. We got there at about 10:00 and surprise, surprise, there was nothing going on at all, no signs or anything advertising the event or anything. This made me worry as I thought I had the wrong date or place. A quick check of the ticket revealed that I was indeed where I should be. We found some other people at the ticket office who told us the event only started at 13:00, or so they thought.
Disappointed, we hung around the nearest coffee shop hoping to see any of the competitors or somebody who looked
like they knew what was going on. We later tried to sneak a peek behind the big entrance doors only to be met by an SADTA (I think) official who told us that the event was starting late as the number of entries were less than expected. I get the impression that the SADTA work their starting times backwards from the time they want to end to the starting
time, which is determined by the number of competitors. As it was, there were about fifty entrants which I found a little
disappointing. It was, after all, the Pro Nationals; I was expecting much more entrants, and so were they I assume. The organizers could have put a notice on the doors explaining the situation and apologizing for the problems beyond their control. Had I known that the previous day, I would have made some telling changes to my schedule for Saturday (more about that later) and come through for a 14:00 start. Nevertheless, we spent the morning loitering around the place and feeding the swans in the pond while we wondered about what we were expecting to see later.The Big Top Arena itself was a magnificent venue, the lighting and sound was excellent. What really got to me was that dance floor: I have never seen one as beautiful as that one, it really made me want to go out there and dance. The floor itself was about 20m by 15m, made up of wooden squares that were screwed together. Around the edges were 1/2m high advertising boards with lights on the floor all the way around. With the main lights dimmed that place could be any dancer's dream.As I said, I chose seats in the front row, next to the marshaling area. I really liked the spot where we sat except for two small little niggles:
But that was nothing compared to the adrenalin rush that hits you as you see the dancers warming up in the marshaling area right next to you. In most cases I was torn between what was going on on the floor and what was happening right there below my nose. A lot of last minute fidgeting goes on in there, and they all appeared to be just as nervous as any social dancer is before his event at his own studio. I saw Ryno and Sonja nervously going over some tricky steps before their events, Michael and Beata were calm (that freaked me out), while poor old Grant and
- The fact that the seats were very hard - next time I'm taking a cushion to sit on.
- A tv crew was filming the event and they had a camera swinging on a boom, right in front of us. I found this thing swinging wildly in my face very distracting and it made me nervous for the dancers who would come careening down that side of the floor and this thing would swoop in over and around them - I am still amazed that nobody got whacked by it.
Tebogo were desperately trying to catch their breath from all the hard work they had to do, competing in twice as many dances as most of the other competitors (Grant and Tebogo were later crowned SA Ten Dance Champs). What impressed me most was the apparent lack of nerves that these competitors show when they walked onto the floor. They appeared almost arrogant, daring the judges to mark them down. I think that if you show any form of anxiety or insecurity out there, the judges can see it because you would stand out like a sore thumb. Confidence, it appears, is a must even if you have to fake it. Come to think of it, I never saw anybody make any obvious mistakes in what they were doing.During this time both the Ballroom quarter and semi finals as well as the Latin semi finals were held. There was one or two occasions where the organizers had to call dancers for their particular events; I personally thought that wrong. As a professional, you wait for the officials, not the other way around. If you are not there for your event, then you shouldn't dance it. I am always ready for my events two events before mine is due. The ballroom dancers danced the usual sequence of Waltz, Tango, Viennese Waltz, Fox and Quickstep one after the other in rapid succession. I can see that stamina is vital for this lot. The Latins then proceeded to give us a taste of what their Cha Cha, Samba, Rumba, Paso and Jive were like. Once again, stamina is the name of the game - it was really high energy stuff they put out there. The crowd for the first part of the proceedings, up to the dinner break at 18:00 was very disappointing as there were, probably, less than 20% of the seats occupied. There were plenty of dancers in these rounds who could easily have made it into the finals of their respective events and those spectators that weren't there really lost out big time in not seeing these competitors in action. I think the dancers from the Northwest owe their fans a great deal because their supporters really rooted for them in these rounds. It is always great to dance for people that appreciate the effort you go to.
As it was, I had to leave Carnival City at the dinner break to rush back to Pretoria as I had some students to teach, and by the time I was back at the event, the Ballroom finals had already taken place so I missed out on that. From what I can gather from the girls, it was touch and go or Grant and Tebogo would have lost that title. Sharon and Clarette agreed that they would have given the title to Anthony Krotz and Kim Corker had they been the judges. Their lines were stunning and their movement across the floor was excellent. I can only say that from what I could remember
from the prelims, I am glad that I did not have to call that one myself.Like I said, I could have rescheduled my students for earlier in the day had I known they were not going to start early, but that's how it goes. Boy, was that place then packed with people; there was not a vacant seat in the house. Once again the fans from the Northwest were loudly (and proudly) supporting their dancers, and you couldn't miss them: they had these foam fingers you see at sports events. For a while I thought I was watching the MTN Gladiators in action!
Even with the loud fans, I was still able to hear the music that was played for the competitors and most of the songs were stuff I recognized and could relate to. I was able to watch the whole of the Professional South American Show Dance Finals and I thought that Ryno and Sonja did well enough to beat their other competitors in this section. I cannot remember by how much they lost out to the eventual winners of the event, Mpho Kgatla and Mary Martin, but
it must have been very close. As far as I can gather, this Show Dance is sort of like an exhibition, much like they
have at the Dancewell exam functions. To me, Ryno and Sonja looked very much in control in that event and their movements were smooth and very polished. The Professional Senior Ballroom finals was then held and the results were very much as I saw them. Too bad there were only three couples who took part in that section. These "Golden Greats" really can turn on the magic even at their age and it looked like they really enjoyed being on the floor.Judging from the reaction of the crowd, the main event of the evening was probably the much awaited 3 way battle between Ryno and Sonja (The Summit Champs); Michael and Beata (The next World Champs?) And Grant and Tebogo (The SA Ballroom Champs). The instant the event was announced the atmosphere went from hot to electric to ballistic and the adrenaline was pumping not only in the six finalists, but also in every spectator who was sitting on the edge of their seats. And as spectators, we were not disappointed; the crowd was in a frenzy at the end of the section.
From my position I must admit that of the three couples, Ryno and Sonja looked to be the most apprehensive before they took to the floor. Until then I had not seen or met any of these three couples in person and my opinion was based solely on observation. The couples were then called onto the floor individually by number and then proceeded to do a little demo of what was to come. If I remember correctly, they all did a Cha Cha and they all started with a New Yorker
(cross-over) into their respective demonstrations. After all this they all proceeded onto the huge dance floor and took up their respective positions. When the music started it was a battle to watch everybody at the same time and I fear I missed a lot of the good stuff because every time I looked at one couple, Sharon would belt me in the ribs with an excited "Did you see that!!". Of course not, I was looking somewhere else. The section was over all too soon and as Sharon later said, we could have sat there for another three days watching those dancers weave their magic.The marking system used had them dancing four dances and then stopping. The judges then gave each competitor a mark from 1 to 6 for each dance. They did this by calling each couple onto the floor and holding up their mark for that particular dance. It soon became apparent that the 1's were going mostly to Michael and Beata and the 2's to Grant and Tebogo. From the quick adding that I did it became clear that Ryno and Sonja were in a spot of bother and that they wouldn't get their third spot. In the end they only managed a fifth place. In my opinion, they just didn't look like they were on it altogether, as if they were a little deflated. Still, I would have given them third overall - the judges were maybe a little harsh and saw things that I must have missed in their dancing. The level of dance that these couples produced was truly amazing, far above anything I had ever seen and I can now see why so many of our rising stars go overseas for training; I hope they all come back and pass their knowledge on to the rest of us when their careers allow it. Their movements were crisp and very sharp and the use of light and shade was awesome. I have never seen anybody that could spin as fast as Michael did and then stop like it was all part of a days work.
The last event of the evening was the Professional Exhibition Show Dance Finals. I had never seen, let alone heard, of this discipline before and it is sort of a Gymnastics-meeting-Ballroom event. This event was truly amazing and every competitor was brilliant and winners in their own right. These guys and girls can do lifts, spins, drops, and movements of pure strength like it's nobody's business. There were times when I couldn't see how the girl could do what she was
doing without falling or something. Trust in your partner and his physical ability is a major prerequisite in this type of dance and that's waaaaay out of my league. Victor and Claire really showed the way in this event and it isn't hard to figure out why they are the World Champions.By this time it was already past 11pm and the prize giving was held for the various events which brought the event and evening to a close. I must admit that I had a second reason for going to the event and that was to get some autographs. The arena cleared quickly and we made our way down to the marshaling area to waylay some of these competitors. Unfortunately we could not get hold of Ryno and Sonja, but we did manage to snare Grant and Tebogo on
their way to the dressing rooms (I still can't believe we did that).I was quite surprised at these two. Grant is a very stocky young man; there is not an ounce of fat on him and you can see that he has a lot of muscle power tucked away on his frame. Tebogo is short and petit and has a gorgeous smile. They were both very excited with their performance that night. We managed a good ten minute chat with both of them, the woman doing most of the talking (naturally) while Grant and I hung around listening. They were both really tired after the long day and Tebogo said that they had put in upwards of TWENTY hours of practice alone in the week leading up to the event. Boy, it showed; and in truth, they were the form couple in the events in which they competed.
We finally let them go and wandered across the floor towards where Michael and Beata were talking to their fans and the press. I got a good close-up look at that floor and it felt very soft underfoot and not at all slippery. Even where the separate sections were joined together there were no bumps or rises that could cause problems underfoot. All in all it is a good floor, I was impressed by it.
We finally managed to talk to Michael and Beata just as they were about to disappear into the distance. Sharon gave them each a hug and I actually think she scared Michael - she still talks about it - probably will for the rest of her life. While Sharon was asking him all kinds of questions, Beata was standing to one side with an amused expression. It is
amazing how short these two are. I am 1,75m tall and I think I am a good 3 inches or more taller than he is. The Boy
from Bruma is also not as stocky as Grant, but there's a lot of muscle on that frame nonetheless. Beata is even shorter, but taller than Tebogo (and even more good looking than in the photos, guys). I asked him about those spins and he said it was basically just a lot of practice. They were very happy to have won the SA's and looked quite relaxed although tired from all the work they had to put in. We finally left Brakpan at about 12:30am, tired but satisfied.I was quite surprised that these four were willing to chat to us and to them we were probably just another bunch of fans, but to us it was more inspiration than they realize. We were probably very obnoxious in that we basically cut of all escape routes so they had to talk to us. Sharon has her autographed program and the article which appeared in the Beeld a few days later framed and hanging in her house while mine will be laminated within the next week or two for the same treatment. When the dancing gets too much, we look, remember and then get up and get back to dancing.
Did I enjoy I enjoy the event? Yes, most certainly. Will I be back this year to watch? Yes, but not until I find out at what time it starts. My opinion of the dancing? Wow, from everybody, even those who never made it to the last six.
I am satisfied that my expectations were met. Overall the SADTA put on a good show, much better than the one I saw at the Star Champs and I must admit that outwardly at least, the show went fairly smoothly.
BTW, I also watched the dancing on Felecia earlier this week and I was not overly impressed. Some of those couples did not sell the sport to me there. I felt that while they knew their steps and had good styling, their dancing was just plain lifeless.
Thanks, Terry
Ed
Thanks for the review Terry, great dance talk.Belly Daincing... shed those EXTRA kilo's Hi Jay
All the very best for 2002!As promised, herewith details, please would you forward to all interested parties(or everyone you know?) tk u.......soooooo mch!
BELLY DANCING - WANT TO SHED THOSE EXTRA FESTIVE SEASON KILO'S? OR JUST CURIOUS ABOUT THIS ENCHANTING ART FORM? JOIN THIS WORKSHOP AND SATISFY, OR FURTHER INTRIGUE YOUR INNER GODDESS!
AN INTRODUCTORY WORKSHOP - 1 AND 1/2 HOURS, SAT 26TH JAN. RIVONIA ANND ROSEBANK - WILL BE HELD FOR ALL INTERESTED BEGINNERS. R100.00p/p
Booking is essential as place is limited - please call Charlotte 083 263 2913 to ensure your place!
Love and light
Charlotte charlotte@bellydance.co.zaEd
For more info visit Jewels of the NileArt of Dance Academy Jay
Can you please add our site to your danceinfosa site.Name: Art of Dance Academy
Province: Gauteng
City: Pretoria & Rayton
Subjects: Tap, Ballet, Modern, Showdancing, Theatre Dance, Freestyle, Ballroom & Latin American
Web Site: http://www.cfb.co.za/entertainment/skyline_music/dance/art%20of%20dance/art_of_dance-.htm
E-mail: artofdance@cfb.co.za
Tel: (012) 549-1041
Cell: (082) 440-1456I am also the president of IAAASA (Integrated Artistic Acrobatic Association of South Africa). I noticed that you do not have any reference to this association. Would you be so kind to add it to your directory.
Name: IAAASA (Integrated Artistic Acrobatic Association of South Africa)
Province: National
City: Head Office - Johannesburg
Subjects: Acrobatics
Web Site: http://www.cfb.co.za/Organisations/IAAASA/iaaasa.htm
E-mail: IAAASA@cfb.co.za
Cell: (083) 407-3818Kind Regards
Corrie Bosch
Tel: +27 12 549-1041
Fax: +27 12 549-1742
Cell: +27 82 737-6265Ed
They're on, and thanks for the connection. Check it out: list of Studios/ClubsLindy Hop & the original Swing Dance from the 1930's - new classes start 14. January Dear Jay,
long time no chat.We are still doing the Swing Thing - you remember, the Lindy Hop, the original Swing Dance from the 1930's.
Our new classes start on the 14. January at 7:45 pm at the TANZCAFE in Bryanston.
It is great fun - especially for beginners. If somebody is looking for a relaxed, smooth way to move their body to great swing music - then the Lindy Hop is excatly the right thing. And for all the Jive dancers out there - learn some different steps to put into your repertoire.
Interested - join us for a free class at the Tanzcafe.
For more information contact Oliver on
082-9007101
or on
swingprofessor@lindyhopfactory.complease inspire the people to enter for the SA Championships of the Performing Arts Hi Jay
Please be so kind to inspire the people to enter for the SA Championships of the Performing Arts. Help us build the World Championships. Lot of children get publicity through this overseas in Los Angeles , one of our contestants end up in the Royal Academy of dancing in London.URGENT!!! partner needed Hi Jay,
I am once again searching for a partner for my daughter aged 11 years turning 12 in February 2002. She is in the novice junior category due to her height.A partner preferably on the Westrand would be most suitable.
Contact Nos. 011-672-8962 (h)
011-884-7689 (o)
082 866 1750 (cell)URGENT!!! as she is becoming very despondent.
Best regards
Cynthia Mackenzie
CMackenzie@whitecase.comis there a junior 1 & 2 junior section at blackpool??? Jay
Is it possible to find out if there is a junior 1 and junior 2 section at blackpool???. I did look on the blackpool website, but they only have the dates there, nothing specific about the age groups.Thank you, Johanna
Ed
Ryno van den Berg who won The Summit recently could help you. He always goes to Blackpool. His # is 082 6333 183. Mention my name.