KNYSNA NEWS - Ballet dancers from the Sidwell Roman School of Ballet last week participated in the Nelson Mandela Bay Dance Festival (NMBDF), clinching the top spots in almost every ballet category and bagging a ton of medals and top awards for their efforts.
A total of 19 dancers performed 64 pieces, ranging from ballet and contemporary to national dances, raking in 5 bronze medals, 18 silver medals and a whopping 41 gold medals between them.
Overall awards
At the Gala and Awards evening, held on the final night of the festival, the dancers pipped the other participants to the post to win the following overall awards:
Sofia Dwyer: Ballet age category winner 7-8yrs (girls)
Jana Olivier: National age category winner 11-12yrs (girls)
Jaden Morton: Junior Ballet Boys' Champion; Ballet age category winner 13-14yrs (boys); National age category winner 13-14yrs (boys); and the Merille Lane Award for Most Promising Ballet Junior Dancer
Zélie de Villiers: National age category winner 13-14yrs (girls); and the National Best Junior Trophy
Kiara Stead: National age category winner 15-16yrs (girls) - tied
Front, from the left, are Talia Dwyer, Gabriella Jonsson, Chloe Mello and Sofia Dwyer. Second row: Gemma Dwyer, Jana Olivier, Christina Jonsson, Isabella Meyer, Lise-Mari Victor and Joli Sigula. Third row: Olivia Maycock, Jaden Morton, Lamila Mnkangala and Olwamuthando Mningiswa. Back row: Alysa Stead, Rikhardt van Niekerk, Zélie de Villiers, Cayden Bean and Kiara Stead.
Cayden Bean: Ballet age category winner 17-18yrs (boys); National age category winner 17-18yrs (boys); the National Best Senior Trophy; the NMBDF Ballet Bursary Senior
The dancers had spent much of the year preparing for the festival under the tutelage of teachers Sidwell Roman and Courtney-Drew Meyer.
They will now shift focus to prepare for their ballet exams in October, followed by the school's annual performance showcase in December.
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