Read first part here

The moment I walked into Rhythm Dance Studio, I had a good feeling… I saw a couple dancing on the floor and two ladies standing behind the bar, Belinda, and Charis.  Charis immediately introduced herself to my mom and me. I asked her how I’d go about starting lessons and she suggested that I visited a social and join the group class to see if I’d enjoy the dancing and I remember saying, “That sounds like fun but I would like to start dance lessons straight away.” Charis just laughed (if you know her, you would agree that she has the best laugh) and handed me a flyer with all their details on and I left, but I would be back.

I will never forget the call the next day.  I spoke to a gentleman named John, who sounded so happy to chat to me, and after I had booked my lesson slot, he says, “OK, love you, bye bye!” I couldn’t stop laughing. I was so excited!

A few years after, I made a hard decision to stop dancing for a while because of reasons I’d rather not say, but I missed it so much. It was like I was missing a part of what made me who I was. One day, Mishelle and I attended a dance competition to watch our friends compete, and the most surreal thing happened… Rene and Ali were dancing the Viennese Waltz, with such elegance I should add, and as they came towards me, Ali turned Rene into a check and she looked straight at me, smiled and winked. I was immediately taken back to that moment when I was seven years old, standing in that beautiful dance studio. It was like the universe was nudging, and asking me, “would you like to dance?” I looked at Mishelle and said to her, “We need to get back into dancing!” Ali was of course over the moon to hear that two of his students were coming back.

Ali Anderson was my first dance instructor and still is, to this day, ten years later. He has his own dance studio called Ritmo La Vida. I love the people at Ritmo, it is my family away from home. We make a great team! From helping with hair to screaming for each other at the competitions, we really have a great support structure and we get very excited when our family grows…

My passion for dance keeps growing and it will always hold a special place in my heart.

I hope that my story has sparked your own passion for dance. I would love to know about how your dance journey began, please share your story below.

Hello, beautiful dancers. So, today is my birthday and I thought, “Hey, why don’t I publish my very first blog post!” I’d love to properly introduce myself, and the best way to do so is to share my story about how my passion for dancing began…

I was seven years old when my mom and I visited a dance studio.  I hadn’t seen anything quite like it before.  It was a huge room bordered with mirror-covered walls and a shiny wooden floor.  I saw a couple dancing, and I watched them glide as if they were skating on ice.  I was immediately transfixed in the way they moved with such elegance and poise. It was perfection.  They started their way towards me and I was startled as they were moving so quickly, and just as I was about to take a step back, the couple turned into a check, the woman looked straight at me, smiled and winked…

That was the moment I knew that I wanted to be a latin and ballroom dancer.  I didn’t know what they were dancing at the time, but I knew it in my heart that it sparked a passion that I would carry with me for the rest of my life.

The next minute, the instructor walked up to me, put out his hand and asked me to dance, I got so nervous that I hid behind my mom.  Little did I know, that he is an icon in the dancing industry in South Africa… Mark Dooley.  Though I didn’t say yes on that day, I still had this yearning for dance.

Ten years later, my mom and I were driving one day, and in the distance, I could make out a silhouette figure of ballroom dancers on a sign with the words, ‘Rhythm Dance Studio’.  I was so excited and decided then and there that I had to go in…

Read part two here