Apart from having three of its youngsters included in the national rugby squad, the Boland town of Paarl was further well-represented at the Rugby World Cup in France, with Paarl-born choreographer Desiré Davids, who was asked to create a dance for the Springboks’ welcoming ceremony hosted in the port city of Toulon last week.
The Springboks were officially welcomed in France on Monday (03 September).
Speaking virtually to Paarl Post from her home in France, Davids said she it did not take long for the organisers of the opening ceremony to accept her proposal, as the performance would put a unique spin to contemporary dance while incorporating traditional South African moves and music.
“I wanted to create a work that will make the team feel at home away from home,” she said.
“So the choice of song was ‘The Drum’ by South African amapiano artist Vinny06, one that immediately puts one in a great mood. The choreography includes some references to rugby as well as traditional and contemporary South African moves.”
Davids’ group consisted of 15 dancers, herself included.
“Fifteen is also the number of players a rugby team consists of and that was one of the ways in which we wanted to display our unity towards the Springboks. It was certainly a multicultural composition of dancers of all ages. The youngest was 15 and the oldest 53. This diversity, in terms of age, gender, race and background, is such an important aspect of the work that I do here in France.
“I find that dance and sport have several similarities. We are similar in the way in which we train and prepare ourselves – mentally and physically. Teamwork is something else we have in common. We must be able to work together to make the production a success.”
Davids said she was overwhelmed with joy to be performing for her home team.
She was particularly excited about meeting her three fellow Paarliete, Canan Moodie, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Grant Willams. A photo of the four taken at the welcoming ceremony went viral on social media last week.
“It was so nice to be able to speak a bit of Afrikaans with them. They are in good spirits, and I could see they are very eager to make the country and the whole of Paarl proud,” she added.
Davids holds, among others, a teacher’s diploma and performer’s certificate in dance which she obtained from the University of Cape Town between 1990-1991.
She currently lives and works in France as a dancer and dance instructor.
