Dance duo set to make Cape Town proud

LOCAL dance couple Michele la Trobe and Oleksii Ishchenko will be flying the flag for Cape Town in the semi-finals of SA’s Got Talent this month, after getting the golden buzzer from judge Jamie Bartlett.

Still reeling from the excitement, the couple, who performed a stunning classical piece, said the honour had forced them to work even harder.

“When you’ve got a goal you work harder than you otherwise would have,” La Trobe, from Claremont said.

They met at the Bovim Ballet, but were dancing with different partners. “Oleksii approached me to become his dance partner as he thought I was the perfect match for what he wanted to do.”

She wasn’t keen at first, but today that’s all history. The 34-year-old has been dancing all her life; both her parents were ballet dancers.

Ishchenko, 30, moved from his Ukraine home to Cape Town three years ago and settled in Somerset West.

He started dancing at 6 and his training included ballet, hip hop, jazz, jazz funk, Irish tap, stage acro- batics, Latin, traditional folk, dance and ballroom. He was offered a spot in a professional ballet school at 10 and at 17 became a professional dancer as part of the Virsky Ballet Company. Of his partner, he said: “Michele is a phenomenal dancer, with a positive attitude. She’s absolutely fearless.”

The pair are a classical act who perform en pointe in a Cirque du Soleil style.

They will be at the Artscape at 7pm on Tuesday in a Rachel’s Wishes production to raise funds for the Red Cross Children’s Hospital.

That line- up includes Majozi, 3 Tons of Fun, Vicky Sampson, Dance for All, Cape Welsh Choir, Zip Zap Circus and the New Apostolic Church Children’s Choir. The couple will be back on October 16 to fight for a spot in the finals of SA’s Got Talent. thembeka.dlamuka@

inl.co.za

PICTURE: SUPPLIED Michele La Trobe, 34, and Oleksii Ishchenko, 30, received a golden buzzer from Jamie Bartlett in SA’s Got Talent that sent them straight to the semi-finals.