The one lesson I’ve learned from life
Strictly dancer Oti Mabuse
Oti MabuSe, 28, is a professional dancer on tV’s Strictly Come Dancing and a dance captain on the the Greatest Dancer. born and raised in South africa, she lives in London with her Romanian husband Marius.
ALWAYS BELIEVE IN YOUR OWN STRENGTH
AT DANCE class in South Africa when I was 15, the teacher told us we must each focus on a single word — the one thing we wanted to achieve that day. Mine was always ‘strength’, not only in my dancing, but in my life and my relationships. To do that, I knew I must persevere. And it’s what I’ve done from that time to this. In fact, I now have a tattoo on my left forearm that reads: ‘Strength through perseverance’. Even if something doesn’t look amazing at the beginning, you can achieve what you want if you push through. Work hard and you’ll gain strength. The greatest test for me was when I left South Africa at the end of my teens and moved to Germany, where my older sister, Motsi, worked as a dancer.
I didn’t speak a word of German, and there wasn’t a job waiting for me. But I persevered. I went to language school for a year-and-a-half and now I’m fluent. But then, German isn’t so different from Afrikaans and I have a flair for languages. There are 11 official languages in South Africa and I speak seven of them.
In time, I started dancing on the German equivalent of Strictly and was then invited to join the UK version. That was 2015.
I worried I’d bitten off more than I could chew: it’s such a big show. But I started making friends and gained a whole new family in the other professional dancers. Now, ten of us are about to go on the Strictly Professionals tour of the UK.
As one of the dance captains on BBC show The Greatest Dancer, I quickly realised that the girl who went on to win the first series in February — Ellie Ferguson — had something special.
But she was shy. She’d stand at the back of the pack in rehearsals. She reminded me of myself as a teenager.
So I tried to imbue her with a sense of believing in her own strength. It paid off. She was only 14, but she won the show.
Now, I’d like to open my own academy in the UK to teach dance. That is the dream. Who says I can’t achieve it?
Oti is the face of Specsavers Spectacle Wearer of the Year. Visit specsavers.co.uk/loveglassescomp