Witbank Methodist Church launches dance campus

Saturday January 28 2017, at the Methodist Church on Louise Street, Witbank, Youth Pastor Elvis Mliswa, launched the first Live, Love Workshop of their Dance Campus. Despite the stormy weather a small but very talented group arrived for the first ever workshop which ran from 10am till 12pm.

“Today,” Youth Pastor Elvis explains, “I’m introducing Witbank to the Methodist Church Dance Campus (MCDC). We live, we love, we dance, and meanwhile we’re make a difference in somebody’s life.”

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With only the attendance register to fill in there was no preamble and the Dance Workshop promptly got underway.

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Talent being harnessed
“One, two, three, four, ‘clap’, five, six, seven, eight,” Pastor Elvis’ voice rang out clearly as he demonstrated the first series of moves. A very adept and talented dancer, he quickly motivated the group into two rows of dancers across the width of the hall. To begin with everyone did exactly the same thing, while Elvis moved around pointing out helpful tips for smooth movement. The happy atmosphere was very encouraging; it was great to see talent being harnessed while everyone enjoyed the activity.

The girls danced their hearts out. Aeryn, aged 9, was clearly the youngest participant, but very quick to learn and a promising dancer of note. Prudence and Portia not only enjoyed themselves, they readily danced their hearts out.

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Only a few water breaks were taken during the session as the group was enthusiastic to be back on the floor, perfecting the moves and asking questions right through training.

Movements becoming dance
The slap and sliding of feet was interrupted occasionally by loud bursts of dance music, the first song was I Can’t Quit by Capital Kings.  As the group pushed up their tempo, the movements became a dance.

No complaints only positive comment, punctuated with laughter, came from the diverse group. Age was of no consequence here. It was quite apparent these participants loved to dance, and they picked up the sequences very smartly. And so it went, learn a few moves then practise with the music, talk it through, and onto the next one.

“Dance kind of expresses your character,” Pastor Elvis explained, “most of the time during the dance it shows who you are, or what mood you’re in, I can come here and do the same dance and it might look boring because I’m not into it.”

Exercise, community and fun
“Hey we’ll have to do double time,” trilled Cindy Neubert, eldest member of the group. She later explained, “I love the exercise, you don’t need a partner to do it, it’s something to do in the community and besides it’s fun.”

“Yeah, I think so too,” chipped in Melanie May, in agreement that this dance workshop was a great place to be.

The ladies concurred that they would definitely invite other people to join the Campus. They even suggested that the church hall may become too small to accommodate a burgeoning Dance Group. So Witbankers, why don’t you join them?

The Methodist Church Dance Campus will be open every Wednesday from 5pm to 7pm.