Doreen Mokgolo
Having to juggle school work and rehearsals didn’t stop Naledzi Thobejane from achieving her dream of performing on the international stage.
The nine-year-old ballerina from Pretoria – who taught herself ballet by watching dancers on television – was crowned the winner of the World Lyrical Dance Championship held in Dublin, Ireland on 31 July.
She competed in the ballet lyrical dance category.
Naledzi qualified for the world competition after winning the regional American Dance Award and Special Challenge Award in October, just two months after she joined a local dance school.
Naledzi’s mother, Mande Thobejan, said she still cannot believe they were able to pay for her daughter’s trip to Ireland to compete.
“I am unemployed and when I received the quotation for the trip I knew that there was no way that we could afford the R64 000 to cover all the expenses.
“I could not bring myself to tell her that we didn’t have the funds needed but decided to seek donations,” she said.
Just a few days before the closing date, the family received a donation from an unknown sponsor.
Naledzi is a self-taught ballet dancer; she relied mainly on television programmes.
Her mother explained that she could see Naledzi’s interest in dance when she was only five years old.
But she didn’t pay attention because ballet was not popular in their village.
When they moved to Pretoria in 2021, Naledzi’s mother decided to enrol her in a dance school as an after-school extra-mural activity.
“When her dance teacher told me that they had entered her in the world competition I thought it was too early for her to compete but the teacher convinced me that she was ready,” she said.
Naledzi won a silver medal which qualified her to compete in the last leg of the competition.
Mande Thobejan said that she could not believe her ears when her daughter’s name was called and she was announced as the winner.
“There were days she had to do her homework between rehearsals and leave the studio at night using taxis but not once has she ever wanted to give up,” she said.
Naledzi said she won the competition due to hard work and believing in herself: “I now know that anything is possible if I work hard,” she said.
