Dance lovers will be in for a night of their lives this coming weekend when some of the local dance enthusiasts take on each other during the Botswana Dance Sport Association (BODANSA) national competitions.
The event, which will be held at Boipuso Hall, will be attended by dancers of all skill levels from across the country.
Speaking in an interview with Standard Sport, BODANSA Administration Officer, Karabo Kemoabe, said the event is a build up to the dance sport regional championships due to be hosted by Botswana on the 26th of March this year.
“These national championships will also be used to select teams to represent the country in the regional championships as well as to raise funds for the event,” Kemoabe told Standard Sport.
The BODANSA administration officer says the event will start with elimination rounds in the morning to be followed by a gala event (finals) and dinner thereafter.
“The eliminations will start at 10 am and finish at 5 pm in the afternoon while the gala event will start at 7 pm and end at 10 pm,” he added. The championships, which are open to dancers of all skills, will be divided into five age categories, namely the juveniles, juniors, youth, adults and seniors.
Kemoabe said that Juveniles are kids under the age of 12, juniors between ages of 12 and 16, youth between 16 and 19, adults between ages of 19 and 35 while all competitors aged 35 and upwards will fall under the seniors’ category.
He further said while this is an open dance festival, dancers will compete according to their skill level, with all having an opportunity to be picked for the national team in their skill level category.
“Every dancer will have to tell us the level of his dance skill in both the Latin American dances and the Modern International Standard dance for us to enter him/her in the right category,” the BODANSA administration officer said.
Meanwhile, Kemoabe has expressed concern that the ongoing standoff between teachers and the Ministry of Education and Skills Development is likely to affect the championships and the national team selection.
“Most of our clientele are students. Most of our clubs are based in schools with only ten clubs being community clubs while having 40 clubs in Junior Secondary Schools, 10 in Senior Schools and three in Primary Schools,” he added.
Kemoabe, however, says since BODANSA has a point based system, which it uses to track the performance and assess the ability of its members, some of the dancers who will not make it to the championships but deserve a place in the national team may make it based on their track record. While admitting that the sport is popular in the country, more especially in schools, Kemoabe says his association has a lot more to do to take the sport to communities and reduce reliance on schools.
“Our association is still left behind in terms of marketing dance sport in the country. Dance is mostly looked upon as a pass time sport, which is not right. Dance sport is a disciplined sport that can groom an individual and can be done as a career,” the BODANSA officer said.
Tickets for the elimination events will be sold at P40 for adults and P20 for kids while tickets for all events, including dinner, are priced at P250.
