Doccie to show SA’s beautiful landscapes Multi-awardwinning dance champ shares her life story
UK-based Latin dance champion Otlile Mabuse has turned her life journey into a documentary.
Titled Oti Mabuse: My South Africa, it follows the life of the eight-time winner of the South African Latin American Championship as a dancer and how she moved overseas.
The documentary is set to premier in January 1 on BBC Brit channel.
In the documentary, Mabuse shares her life story and passion while selling SA’s beautiful landscape to the world. The documentary features her family, friends and various people who are doing great work.
Through the documentary, Mabuse revisits her home where she grew up, people and places that inspired her to be the dancer and woman she is today.
Viewers will be able to see the 32-year-old as she meets inspirational people – from musicians to farmers.
The documentary also features dancer and choreographer Bontle Modiselle.
Another notable person who is part of the doccie is SA winemaker Ntsiki Biyela, who runs a successful wine company.
As she chats to TimeOut, Mabuse sounds very eager to share the beauty of the country with the world and inspire dreamers.
Through the documentary, she hopes to inspire young people to push themselves too hard and look for opportunities just like her.
“I will have to say this year has been good to me. But being able to make the documentary is actually the highlight of this year. Through it I managed to combine things that I love most ... which are documenting and dance. “Through the documentary,
I will take viewers
Documentary is actually the highlight of this year
I wanted to show the world where I grew up
on a magical journey while exploring my country and where I grew up. It was an emotional journey for me as we visited places like Robben Island, Mabopane, Sun City and Khayelitsha.”
Mabuse said it was crucial for her to tell her story and also do a documentary about where she came from because of perceptions that existed about SA.
“It is important for me to tell my story about where my passion for dance began and South African dance history. I am proud about where I grew up and wanted to show that to the world.
“I want this documentary to show the world our land of beauty, diversity and hope that SA has. But it was also to show those who have watched me on television on different shows where I come from.”
Mabuse is best known for being a professional dancer on the British television series Strictly Come Dancing, which she won in 2019 and 2020, and its German equivalent, Let’s Dance.
Since then, she has been creating a profile for herself on TV internationally. Last year, she landed a role as a judge in the popular UK reality show The Masked Dancer UK, where she was judging alongside Jonathan Ross, Mo Gilligan and Davina McCall.
Mabuse began dancing as a child, along with her sister. She studied civil engineering at tertiary but dancing was always her true passion.
She moved to Germany seeking a new challenge after being the South African Latin American champion eight times.
She has won many titles in her dancing career, including being World European Latin semifinalist and World Cup Championship semifinalist.