ATHINA MAY
Little movers and shakers of the Born to Dance (B2D) dance group brought home silver from the 2016 Hip Hop Dance SA Championship .
The dancers bagged second place in the junior division of the competition – as well as the opportunity to take part in the international hip hop dance competition taking place in Las Vegas, while the senior group, Born to Dominate walked away with third prize in the varsity division.
“They’re [B2D] one of the top teams in the province in their age group and they managed to qualify to compete internationally. You have to perform at a certain standard in order to qualify for the event,” said proud choreographer and owner of B2D, Caitlin Liggett.
Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed the talented dancers from Blouberg International School gathered in the school foyer, with certificates in hand, to show off their prized achievements. Sithara Naidoo told Tabletalk that she and her fellow dancers were nine years old and were in Grade 3 and Grade 4.
“We danced to a mix of songs, like hip hop, pop and reggae. We danced old school and new school,” said Chloe Smit, who explained that old school included moves such as the moon walk, while new school referred to styles such as “happy feet” which Sithara, Chloe and Oswald Pieterse demonstrated.
With their feet whooshing from side to side, the young dancers routine seemed to be all fun, but Ms Liggett said it took lots of practice to perfect the movements.
“They are a group of eight dancers who have been training with me since young and it is both physically and mentally challenging for them, but they have a huge passion to succeed and have big dreams to dance overseas, so we put together high level of dance,” she said.
The dancers practised their routine for two months before the SA Hip Hop Dance Championships and while they qualified to go to Las Vegas, they have not yet decided whether they will participate in the world hip hop championship this year.
In the meantime, the group will continue practising for other competitions.
“We will be preparing for the Carnival City dance competition as well as the Western Province dance competition this year,” said Ms Liggett.
