BY PHUMZILE NDLOVU
MBABANE– Ndoniyamanzi makes history!
At only 11 years old, Eswatini’s young ballet dancer, Ndoniyamanzi Luhlanga, has put Eswatini on the map, as the country will now be included in the biggest dance competition in the world.
Luhlanga successfully made it to the finals to compete in the Ballet World Cup finals, which will take place in Prague (Czech Republic) from July 27–6 this year.
This was confirmed by the director of Talent ‘n’ Motion Academy, Velile Dube, who is also a choreographer and dance teacher. She received an email from Tracy Robinson, who is the Dance World Cup event organiser, asking for more information about the country to add to their portfolio. She was also asked to compose some information in no more than 120 words for them to include. “This is big for Eswatini as a country, as we have never qualified or even entered this competition before. To have our country added to the database of the competition is huge.”
Dube also shared with this publication that judges in SA were so impressed with Luhlanga that they added another dance routine to increase her chances of winning. Initially, she was supposed to have only one dance routine, but they have added one more.
Dube went on to say that Luhlanga has transformed the industry as a whole, and she is confident that she will bring it home. Dube also asked the nation to donate funds to facilitate the trip by following the link. https://www.backabuddy.co.za/campaign/Ndoniyamanzi-goes-to-Prague-Czech-Republic-for-The-Dance-World-Cup-finals
The 2024 Dance World Cup-World Finals will be held at the Prague Congress Centre in Prague, with over 50 countries and 7500 dancers expected to compete in the prestigious world final event.
Luhlanga successfully made it through to the finals at the Dance World Cup qualifiers, which were held in South Africa’s Centurion, Pretoria, early this month. She had to score above 70 to qualify for the finals, and she scored 77.5. Eswatini will now be included as one of the many countries to participate in the Dance World Cup, thanks to Luhlanga. The South African qualifiers were judged by South African and international judges from Europe.
Luhlanga started ballet at Talent ‘n’ Motion Academy in 2017 at age 4 and has won gold at numerous dance competitions, including a win at the South African Ballet Competition in Cape Town in July 2022.
