{"id":279337,"date":"2025-10-02T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/?p=279337"},"modified":"2025-09-29T13:29:20","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T11:29:20","slug":"watch-devolution-builds-dancing-heritage-for-25-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/tygerburger\/watch-devolution-builds-dancing-heritage-for-25-years\/","title":{"rendered":"WATCH |\u00a0Devolution builds dancing heritage for 25 years"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dance champions Devolution<\/a> celebrated their 25th anniversary on Heritage Day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shamieg George (33), who leads the Tafelsig dance group, says he hopes the group\u2019s successes will inspire people to change their \u201cpoverty mindset\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf your life view is \u2018I\u2019m in poverty\u2019, then you will stay in poverty,\u201d George said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, George hopes to broaden the crew\u2019s horizons<\/a> by exposing them to the new experiences and by exposing their talent through competitions and gigs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are just a voice for the youth,\u201d George said. \u201cWhether to inspire or by influencing change by pushing talent \u2014 getting the talent out there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Shamieg
Shamieg George demonstrates a dance move to the Devolution dance group who turn 25 this year.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He uses his own example as a model. George grew up in Tafelsig and has been dancing since he was a young child. He has gone on to travel widely through his dancing and has also featured in international artists\u2019 music videos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

George is the second generation of this family to manage the dance group. Devolution was first started by his mother and brother in the year 2000. At the time, he was only eight years old but he was active in the group and part of the practises, so much so that he started choreographing the group from the age of 13.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By that time Devolution started building a local fan base and were regularly invited to perform at events. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWherever we could get experience, we went,\u201d said George, explaining that at the time no birthday party was too small for them to perform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was also around that time that the crew started taking part in competitions. They didn\u2019t have any big wins at first but the competitions helped them to get exposure which led to taking part at bigger events around the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The crew\u2019s \u201cbig break\u201d, said George, came in 2015 when they took part in a national competition at Artscape. They competed again in subsequent years and won gold in 2015 and 2016. It was also around this time that their popularity grew and Devolution started attracting dancers from other crews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One such dancer is Ghalika Isaacs of Lavender Hill. Isaacs said she has been dancing since she was 12 and had seen Devolution at competitions. She had seen George choreographing the group and admired his leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe was always inspiring,\u201d Isaacs said. \u201cI wanted to join them but I was very young and couldn\u2019t make my own decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isaacs, who is now 22, eventually joined a few years later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHere you can just be yourself,\u201d Isaacs said. \u201cIt\u2019s a family here. This is home. We are street dancers and we don\u2019t have a studio but the respect is there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Devolution has also helped some dancers to succeed as individuals, George said. Many of the members leave the crew as they get older but George said all of them go on to do well in their personal spheres, even if they don\u2019t carry on dancing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the group\u2019s biggest successes though is Aimsley Fortuin. The 22-year-old Tafelsig resident started dancing with Devolution when he was 13. Fortuin is currently abroad and representing South Africa in the Red Bull Dance Your Style competition in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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