Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
The ballroom way remains ever so cool
Dancing with finesse is still favoured
HE WILL be the frame, and she the perfect picture as they glide, twirl and lift their way through the Viennese waltz, the quickstep, tango, cha- cha, rumba, samba, pop, jazz, and many more.
The finesse of ballroom and Latin snack dances still attracts young and older Capetonians in their droves, especially at this time of year when many will herald 2018 on dance floors across the city, much as their forebears did for decades.
Patrons say central to the dance is good music and one such band is Cool Sounds, led by drummer-singer-percussionist Carl “China” van Rensburg who said the dance was usually a family affair handed down from parents to their children, who usually participate.
Ballroom and Latin dancing is the third biggest sport in the country, said Van Rensburg, and it is this that makes the snack dances hosted by churches and organisations so popular. With many dances throughout the year, there are enough gigs for all the ballroom dance bands.
“The bands are versatile. The club bands only play what they play, jazz or pop music but we play all genres. Ballroom dance bands cover everything, all sounds, there is something for everyone, young and old.
“The tickets go fast, priced anything between R100 to R120. People bring their own snack platters and drinks while the organisers provide the venues and the music. In our communities, people like to have a table to sit at, to eat, drink and dance,” said Van Rensburg.
With a fully-booked gig card for December, Cool Sounds will be hosting a dance at the Goodwood Civic Centre on New Year’s Eve, said band manager Nora van Rensburg, who with her husband China are one of the oldest couples still dancing in ballroom competitions.
There is a vast difference between attending the traditional ballroom dances versus going to a club, explained Nora.
“In the clubs they take you for granted, I would say. And there is more finesse in ballroom dancing.”
She said that at the clubs the “gentlemen” do not approach the “ladies” to “request” a dance, as they do at a ballroom dance.
“If you say yes, you get up and are led to the dance floor and he’ll bring you back to your seat afterwards. If you say ‘no thank you’, he will go to the next person and ask her for a dance,” said Nora.
Former Western Province champion ballroom and Latin dancer and Zumba teacher Roy Pieterse, who will be deejaying at Kelvin Grove’s formal New Year’s Eve ball, said the first thing youth learn when they begin ballroom dancing is that “you are the frame and the lady is the picture and that in itself is the foundation of respect for the lady and yourself ”.
“When you get that kind of training in respect and courtesy, that mentality, the way you respect and treat other people, sticks with you your whole life, not only in the studio or at the dance but it is something that you can apply in daily life.”
The physicality of the dance requires stamina, said Pieterse. “When you go into a ballroom posture or hold, you immediately extend the spine, you are taught to put your arms out, you look up and, of course posture is eminent for a guy and throughout your life, you end up walking properly, you don’t slouch like other people would.
“It’s very good, not just for males but for females too. They learn to arch the back, to bloom like a flower. Those things all come with the dance.
“You’re going down low, then rising, you’re using the feet, the ankles, the knees, quads, the core, the dance is absolutely physical. It’s not a case of just walking up and down, it is all about dancing in sync. At the highest level of competition, there is complex choreography that you have to do. All that bundled together: that’s a recipe for a very sporty and stamina-driven activity.
“Of course, a ballroom dancer is all about presentation. The male ballroom dancer, I can tell you… eish, you have to groom from your head to your toes.”
Attesting to the seriousness with which the dance is regarded, Pieterse said that in his first year at high school in 1996, he used to attend dance classes at the Manenberg People’s Centre every Wednesday evening and Saturday morning.
“Once in the studio, we become different, very serious about the dance. People would be shooting guns outside and we just kept on dancing.”
Many of the halls hired for the dances are owned by churches and schools, with the city council owning 181 of the most popular venues that accommodate between 60 and 750 people, depending on the size.
Mayco member for Safety and Security and Social Services JP Smith said 12 venues had been booked for December 31.