Celebrities burn the floor

Taking a leaf out of the reality TV book, a group of local celebrities spent the day with the dancers of Burn the Floor, learning the moves and then competing against each other.
THE Burn the Floor dancers are not only entertaining Joburgers during the dance show’s season at the Joburg Theatre Complex; they also have a full outreach programme.

Dalen Lance gets down on the floorGetting down on the floorAlready, they have spent the day in Soweto, teaching new moves to young dancers in the township. In their latest effort, 18 local celebrities got to swing their hips and do some cha-cha with the dancers at the theatre.

The celebrities paired up with 18 of the professional dancers and spent about an hour on the dance floor.

Burn the Floor Dancing with South African Stars took place on 28 July at the theatre. The South African stars included Odelle de Wet, who plays Farrow in Isidingo; Lesego Motsepe, a former Isidingo actor; the actress television presenter, Jolene Martin-Morgan; and Chantal Rutter, the Carte Blanche presenter.

Dalen Lance, the presenter of the ETV dance show Step Up or Step Out, also participated.

Lance said he was nervous at first because he did not know what to expect. However, he “realised that it is all about having fun”.

From the first instance he saw the show, he wanted to be part of it. “It was incredible. Just to think that we learned the moves in less than an hour and judges were impressed,” he said.

After the lessons, the dancers were divided into two groups: one to practise on the Mandela Stage and the other to go backstage.

The two groups then competed against each other, closely watched by a panel of judges. They were Carol Ralefeta, from Metro FM; Erica Elle, of 5FM; So You Think You Can Dance judge, Harold van Buuren; and Michael de Pinna.

In the end, the judges were highly impressed and both groups were declared winners.

Explaining the idea of the session with the local celebrities, Collett Dawson, the Burn the Floor publicist, said: “We had such an amazing response on the opening night from our audience, particularly from a lot of celebrities who were in the audience.”

Stevel and partnerInternational model Stevel Marc and partner show how its doneMany approached her after watching the show, saying they would love to learn how to dance. “We asked the dancers, and they jumped to it,” she said.

The aim of the day, she said, was to have fun and give the Burn the Floor dancers a chance to meet local celebrities and enjoy themselves while doing something they had not done before.

Robie Kmetoni, a Burn the Floor dancer from Sydney, Australia, described the day as an “absolute thrill”.

“We never get to do these things,” he said. “Last week we were in Soweto. We always see these things on reality TV, and today teaching others our moves was just amazing. Watching them perform what we had taught them was even more incredible.”

Speaking about the show’s visit to Joburg, he said: “Johannesburg has been nothing but incredible and I expected nothing less. I have heard so much about South Africa, and being here to be part of it is a blessing in disguise for me, because I pull some African moves when I dance.”

Burn the Floor is on at the Joburg Theatre Complex until 14 August. Tickets range from R195 to R365. For bookings call 0861 670 670 or visit the theatre's website.