It all started when I got involved with Ballroom and Latin American dancing in 2009 through The Chaeli Campaign thanks to my good friend, Chaeli Mycroft and her mom, Zelda. In fact, my first ever taste of Ballroom dancing was a bit earlier than that. When I was in Grade 7 at Bergvliet Primary School a Grade 7 evening took place where Grade 7 learners had an evening together with our parents and Ballroom dancing happened to be the theme of the evening. That was my first ever taste of the sport and for someone who is blind, like me, who never danced before back then I really enjoyed it. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to take it further because of everyday life until two years later.

In 2008 I started my high school career at Bergvliet High School and that was when I met and became friends with Chaeli. We met for the first time at one of the open days the year before so in the beginning of the school year we were just doing our own thing. Then one break time, out of the blue, Chaeli  stopped at the place where I would sit and we started chatting randomly and that was when our friendship really took off. Just so that people know, the way I identify a person using a wheelchair is through the sound of the motor so at break times whenever I would hear Chaeli’s wheelchair coming towards me through the distinct sound of the motor I would know that she was coming to enjoy her breaks with me. Most of the time she told me stories about her adventures she had through dancing as she was already involved in the sport back then and I found them very interesting. A huge shout out to Chaeli for an awesome friendship which still exists today and long may it last.

Then 2009 came around and one day Chaeli and Zelda invited me to visit the group Chaeli was dancing with at the time in an effort to get me involved in the sport. Before then I was swimming training four times a week for fitness which I didn’t have a problem with because I enjoy swimming as well. Veon, my partner back then, was a gem. Our partnership instantly took off as soon as we met, got to know each other and started dancing together. We still chat online occasionally nowadays and find out how we’ve been doing. I’ll always remember her as my first partner ever and I still have awesome memories of our partnership which I’ll never forget. Everyone in the group was taken by surprise at how quickly I managed to pick up the steps. Maybe it was largely thanks to my fun weekly Djembe drumming sessions back then that gave me rhythm and dancing also boosted my taste in Big Band Swing Jazz and old-school Rock N Roll music which I’ve enjoyed listening to ever since. No sooner had I joined the group I was entered into my first ever competition. So, I went out there and danced with the intention of just having fun out there as I was still new to the sport so it was really thrilling for all of us when I came first for both Ballroom and Latin in my category.

2010 was an interesting year for dancing as well as fun because we were involved in a show called Soar Like an Eagle which was about how our friend, Mukhtar, came to be the person that he is today through dancing. Although not much dancing itself took place that year I was involved in the dancing scenes of the show and what made it enjoyable for me personally was that although the show did have its ups and downs I enjoyed being there and having fun with everyone. It was also the year when my second competition took place and I again managed to take first place for both Ballroom and Latin in my category. I was also privileged to receive a third trophy that day which was awarded to, if I remember correctly, the best dancer of the day, or something to that effect.

2011 and 2012 sadly didn’t see much dancing taking place for me as things sadly fell apart at school and I ended up at the school for the blind in Pretoria but whenever the opportunity came I would squeeze in some dancing on my termly visits home to Cape Town for the holidays and that would also give me the chance to visit everyone and catch up. At this point The Chaeli Campaign had started up their own dancing group as part of the Chaeli Sports and Recreation Club which started in 2010 and the dance group started in 2011. Although I made some good friends up in Pretoria I still feel more at home here in Cape Town and thinking of everyone at dancing was really what got me through those two years.  My final flight home after my last Matric exam was the most enjoyable out of all the journeys I’ve done on a plane between Pretoria and Cape Town.