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Vashti Represents South Africa In Croatia

Vashti Represents South Africa In Croatia

Date: 2019-05-10

Vashti began with Indian classical dance in 2017 at the age of 6 years old and started acrobatics later that same year.

Within seven months she had qualified at regionals and made it as part of the team that would represent KZN at SACOPA (South African Championships for Performing Arts). At SACOPA Nationals, which took place in Rustenberg in March 2018, she won 2 Gold Medals for her solo performances in Acro and Indian Dance and 3 Silver Medals for her duet team items. This ensured her selection as one of the youngest solists to be a part of the SA Team that would compete in Los Angeles, USA in July 2018.

The rigorous programme and effort that would have been expected off Vashti, (then just 7 years old), left us unconvinced that she was ready for it. We made a deliberate decision to skip World Champs in LA, with knowledge that she will have many other opportunities in her future.

She has also participated and medalled at the Natal Festival of Dance where she presented only one classical ballet item after just a year of formal ballet lessons.

She won Gold again in October 2018 Move Dance competition for Acro and Indian Classical dance.

She is one of only two participants from KZN on the SA Team going to Croatia, with the largest number coming from Gauteng, followed by Cape Town.

Her natural flexibility was very evident as a young child. Jumping on the bed one day, she landed in a full split with no discomfort at all. Once she began formal dance lessons, her natural dance abilities came to the fore. Her stage performances are confidently strong and beautifully graceful.

World Dance Star Finals takes place in Porec, Croatia. Vashti will compete with representatives from around the world in the A League. This means that she will compete against some of the best on an international platform. It is an amazing opportunity to workshop and dance with world-renowned choreographers and dance directors. Regardless of the competitive outcome, she will no doubt return with wealth of knowledge and experience. A growing experience that she will no doubt share with her peers.

Vashti still also excels academically with a flare for mathematics and is an avid reader though just in Grade 3. Completely enthusiastic about school, she gets to class early and happily stays for her various extra murals (ie piano, ballet, and school sport). However she is also still committed to after school lessons in Bharatha Natyam (Indian Classical Dance), Acrobatics and Modern Contemporary Dance.

Vashti is self-motivated and has an excellent work ethic, which allows her to balance everything quite seamlessly. She is conscientious with high standards and thrives on success, so she is naturally driven to achieve consistently high results.

From a tender age of 7 Vashti had been inspiring young girls her own age, younger and older than she is, to do acrobatics. We have had so many parents tell us that Vashti had inspired their kids to dance and more specifically to do Acro. We were amazed to find that there have been kids that have spoken about Vashti as focal point for their English oral presentations at school.

We hope that South Africans at large stand behind our South African Team at large in Croatia. We further hope that Vashti brings success home to KZN.