Dance movement commemorates 15 years of existence with festival

FOR the past 15 years, the Dance Movement project has created a platform for over 6 100 youth from Wentworth and surrounding communities, to express themselves through the art of dance.

And to commemorate this milestone, the project, which is administered under the long-standing Wentworth Arts and Culture, a non-profit organisation, will be hosting the Wentworth Street Youth Arts festival.

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The festival will be held at the Transhaven Centre in Treasure beach on December 10, starting from 08:00.

Jarryd Watson, an artistic director, who created the project in 2007, said the aim was to positively impact the lives of the youth, some of which are physically challenged.
“Over the years, we have given thousands of youth an opportunity to feature in theater productions and competitions, as well as given them international exposure, that has contributed directly to their flourishing careers.

“When I initially started the project, I said I would do it for one year as a way to give back to the community, but here we are celebrating 15 years. To mark this milestone, I felt the festival would be the best way to get the entire community involved as it will bring us together. It will also bring back joy after the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.

Watson said there would be a wide variety of entertainment on offer for the entire family.

“We will showcase a dance movement production, soccer tournament, modelling competition, as well as a wide variety of stalls. To add to the excitement, we will also have performances from music artists, some of which hail from the Wentworth community, and a comedian.
“There will also be a number of activities for children to enjoy, such as face painting, puppet shows, jumping castles and fun rides,” he said.

Watson said the aim of the festival was to raise funds for the organisation.

“With minimal access to funding and lack of financial support, the organisation has been struggling to sustain their programmes and services offered to the community. Therefore, we encourage the community and businesses to come out and support the event. All proceeds go towards the organisation’s dance movement outreach programme for disadvantaged youth, as well the special needs and disabled training and development programme for people living with disabilities and the arts in school programme for the enhancement of arts education in marginalised and under resourced schools,” he said.

For more information on tickets and how you can support the event, call 082 683 9665.

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