11 July 2013
South African dancers excelled at the 2013 Freestyle Dance World Championships in Blackpool, England recently, winning four titles.
The five-member squad returned from the global showpiece as the most successful South African team to compete at the championships, which have been held in Blackpool since the early 1980s.
Kalon Badenhorst of Johannesburg starred, claiming four world titles to become the only dancer ever to achieve the feat in a single championship.
Titles
The 15-year-old schoolboy secured wins in the under-16 Championship Boys Street Style, Freestyle and Slowdance solo categories.
Badenhorst also partnered with 13-year-old Courtney Minnaar, also of Johannesburg, to secure the Under-16 Freestyle Couples world title.
Badenhorst is a member of the Daniel Swanepoel Dance Studio in Randburg and Minnaar a member of Dance Zone International in Bryanston.
Dancing solo in the under-14 Girls Premier Champ Division, Minnaar reached the finals of both the Freestyle and Slowdance, and ended up placing sixth and fourth respectively.
Runner-up
Tatijana Ignaijtov added another podium placing for South Africa by finishing second in the under-8 Girls Premier Champ Division in the Freestyle discipline.
The Bishop Bavin learner from Bedfordview, Johannesburg, who is a member of Diana Moore Dance World, also reached the final in the Slowdance, but had to withdraw due to illness.
Freestyle is an evolved version of Disco dance, and has developed sub- categories in which dancers compete solo, in couples and groups. It involves runs, spins, kicks and leaps, as well as many other diverse steps and acrobatic movements.
The Freestyle World Championships is organised by Anna Jones, the president of the International Dance Teachers’ Association (IDTA). The IDTA is one of the world’s largest examination boards, covering the full spectrum of dance examinations on a global scale, with over 7 000 members in 55 countries.
SAinfo reporter
