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MOSSEL BAY NEWS - A Mossel Bay dance studio has won a national hip hop competition in which about 20 dance teams took part.
The annual Hip Hop United South Africa competition is run under the auspices of the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC).
PHOTO GALLERY: Dance your heart out
As the SA winner, Mossel Bay's Dynamic Dance Academy will compete in the Hip Hop United World Championships in Obidos, Portugal, from 26 to 28 October.
Lee Miller (23), Dynamic Dance Academy owner and teacher, said: "In May we came second in the Western Cape provincial competition and then we worked harder and got gold at the SAs."
Both the provincial and the national competitions were held in Cape Town.
Miller himself danced with his students in the competitions. In total, 17 dancers from Dynamic Dance Academy, ranging from age 12 to 18, took part in Hip Hop United SA, held from 24 to 26 June.
Miller attended Park Primary School in Mossel Bay and then Outeniqua High School in George.
Coming up the ranks
He started dancing at Dynamic Dance Academy at eight years of age, coming up the ranks by entering hip hop competitions and eventually became the owner of the academy. He gives classes from Mondays to Saturdays at a premises in Marsh Street.
In April, Miller auditioned for and was accepted by Untimitive Dance Company in Cape Town, owned by internationally known choreographer Rudi Smit.
The company, comprising about 36 dancers, offers dancers for music gigs, commercials, videos, fashion shows and so forth.
Miller rehearses for the company on Sundays, when he is not teaching dancing in Mossel Bay.
He explains that with hip hop dancing, the emphasis is more on entering competitions of a high standard to advance in the genre, than doing examinations.
Dynamic Dance Academy falls under the South African Sport Aerobics and Fitness Federation (SASAFF).
In 2019 the academy was nominated for team of the year in the Western Cape Sports Awards.
Back: Nelani Malan. Front: Ashley Brown. Photos: Alison O'Reilly
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