With less than a year’s experience and having to work tirelessly to prepare for three competitions in the span of three months the youth from the Missionvale Care Centre School of Dance made the metro proud when they bagged twelve medals at the recent Dance Sport SA National Competition in Cape Town.
For some, it was their very first time outside the province and not only was it an amazing experience but when returning to Nelson Mandela Bay with eight gold medals, two silver and two bronze, after sweeping the judges off their feet during the ballroom dance competition, they made coach, Sonwabile Makalo, burst with pride.
He explained that since they started the school only last year, he recently took the ten couples, between the ages of 11 and 24, to a ballroom dance competition in the Sarah Baartman District, just so that they could get a feel of how such a competition works.
They were then asked to participate and moved on to the provincial rounds held in Komani.
There they advanced to the national competition in Cape Town.
“With the small amount of time that we had for preparation, we managed to do this and win all these medals, and for us this is a huge success as an organisation.
“Just being able to impact children on such a level is amazing. Not only did they participate in the competition but they also had an adventure because due to generous donations they were able to visit Table Mountain and enjoy this unique landmark of their country,” Makalo said.
“Since it was the first time in Cape Town for some of them, the joy that we could see on their faces was magnificent. It was beautiful.
“They normally saw it on TV and now they were there themselves, something they only dreamt about because they never had the means to get there before,” he added.
Makalo, who is also assisted by fellow coach, Aphiwe Puzi, said that their main goal was always to impact the youth through the sport of ballroom dancing.
“This sport helped get me through some of the worst situations in my life and I wanted to introduce it to them. We started this school because we wanted to impact even more, bring about a change in our community and shape our youth. They were really our target market because of everything that the young people face,” Makalo explained.
“This year was a start of a great thing for us, a great journey with the children, and we are looking forward to next year.
“We keep dancing in the meantime and work on going international so that they can grow from strength to strength.”
Marketing manager at Missionvale Care Centre, Linda van Oudheusden, said that the youth that participated come from deeply impoverished backgrounds.
“Dance allows them an escape from their harsh realities; it teaches self-discipline and grace. It has also broadened their horizons – through these competitions they see parts of the country they would never have seen otherwise,” she said.
“Through the generosity of our funders, we were able to get them to Table Mountain – a once in a lifetime experience for all of them!”
