Dance contest aims to unearth local int�l stars
Chippa Legodimo | Wednesday June 3, 2015 14:31
Well, her fans had reason to be jubilant looking at how accomplished a dancer Banks is, with an impressive profile that includes befeaturing in videos by world -famous stars Usher Raymond, Toni Braxton, Justin Bieber and Beyonce Knowles.
While many might scoff at the at the idea of Botswana producing a a dancer of international standards; it is infact possible to produce such dance stars who can go out there and conquer the world.
A local media company, Evolve Media is embarking on a project to help youngsters with dreams to become professional dancers.
Through the Di a ntsha Bw Dance Competition, the company hopes to unearth raw talent and nurture it into polished dancers.
“We believe there is a lot of untapped dance talent in this country, which can blossom into big stars if given the right platform,” the show coordinator Zweli Mhlanga told Showbiz.
The competition is only for groups, not individuals and with auditions slated for the National Museum auditorium on Saturday.
The real competition is expected to start on June 20 and end at a date still to be announced in December.
Mhlanga told Showbiz that the competition has received a P100, 000 sponsorship which will be used for both prize money and other prizes.
The winning group pockets P50,000 plus other prizes.
However, Mhlanga emphasised that the competition was more about empowering budding dancers than the prize money.
“We will have judges who are experts in dance and choreography; people who can impart knowledge even to those who would not win the competition.
“It is our hope to produce the kind of dancers whose skills would be attractive to high profile musicians so that in future they could use what they have learnt to earn money,” he said.