The music may have been put on hold for a while in 2020 due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, but this has not stopped national Latin dance champions, Cameron Lombard, 19, from Ottery and his partner Stacey-Lee McPherson, 26, from Bokmakierie, from working hard towards making their presence felt on the international stage.
The two have been involved with dance sport for most of their lives but have only been partners for the past two years, winning back-to-back SA titles – in 2018 and 2019 – and representing the country at last year’s World Dance Sport Federation’s world championships, in Russia.
This year held much promise, starting out, as the pair prepared for another world championships, this time in Spain, but the dreaded coranavirus threw a spanner in the works.
With the president’s announcement that the country would be placed on alert level 1 as per lockdown regulations, the smiles on their faces are looking so much brighter.
No wonder the two wasted no time to get back in the dance studio to fine-tune their routine.
And, as things open up, Lombard also unveiled plans to open his own dance school based at Vibrant Sports Fitness Studio, in Ottery. Barely out of his teens, the young dancer has achieved quite a bit during his time on the dance floor.
A third-placed finalist in SA’s Got Talent in 2009, he’s won numerous titles across all age divisions since the age of 6, from juvenile to adult, ballroom and Latin dance – you name it, he’s won it multiple times.
He has also competed at world championships, in England and Germany.
“So my aim with the school is to develop the sport so that we can create more dance champions on a day-to-day basis,” he said.
“The aim is to create a broader platform for the community, old and young, where everyone can share their knowledge, and to inspire others,” he said.
McPherson, who also offers children’s dance classes at her school, shares his passion for teaching.
“Dancing has always been my passion,” said McPherson, a maths teacher at Van der Ross Primary School, in Belhar.
“I’ve been dancing for about 20 years now. I’ve represented South Africa twice. Cameron and I started dancing about two years ago, we won two SA championship titles and we represented South
Africa at the world championships, in Russia, last year,” she said.
Plans to attend this year’s world championships in Spain ground to a halt, she said, as travel restrictions and other lockdown regulations were imposed.
“At least now we can look forward to next year,” she said.
● Call 061 843 5862 for more details about the dance school.