Dear Dancing Community On behalf of the Board Directors, allow me to wish each and everyone of you a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2016. Our successes of 2015 would not have been possible without your continued support and we thank your involvement and being part of Our Incredible Journey. We look forward to another memorable year filled with happy dancing memories and great achievements. We were very pleased with the resounding success of FIRST ever WDC AL Championship at Ratanga Junction in the Western Cape and thank you for ALL for your compliments and messages of appreciation. The Championship was supported by the various Dance Associations in South Africa and created a platform for unity and Freedom to Dance. We will be hosting another WDC AL Championship this year and endeavour to making it another memorable experience for the South African community. We share our SA Championship DVD clip on Youtube and invite you to watch - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAUehLQSypo&feature=em-subs_digest We are extremely excited to share the exciting 2016 SADF Calendar with you which is jam packed with exciting Competitions, Workshops and Development Congresses, WDC and WDC AL World Series events. We encourage the dance community to support the WDC Series Championships and can assist with facilitating entry, our Travel Partner (Student Flights) can manage your trip and we pleased to announce we managed to arrange discounted entry fees for the 2015 WDC AL World Championship in Paris for registered SADF members. We are very pleased to announce we have remained consistent with the dates of the Super Series Championships, which are now in its FOURTH year of existence. The SADF Super Series has been extremely successful drawing top talent from ALL Regions in South Africa and are qualifiers for the much sought after National Colours which carry the WDC AL logo for the Amateurs. The Freedom Day Championship is the first Championship and will be hosted in Gauteng on 23 April and is an absolute MUST DO CHAMPIONSHIP on the Calendar. We are very excited to announce that we hosting a Dance Camp is Western Cape on 2 - 6 April and invite all Regions and Faculties to support it, which will be facilitated by World, European and Ten Dance Champion, Andrej Skufca. This will allow us to expedite the much needed development in South Africa. Social WC has also created a wonderful networking opportunity for all studios on a Dance Cruise on 29 April - 1 May on the MSC Simfonia and extended it to the wider dance community. It promises to be a super exciting social not to be missed event. This was advertised and arranged in 2015 already and we cannot wait for this magical voyage........we promise to share pictures of our experiences..... To benefit from ALL of the above exciting opportunities, please ensure you are registered with the SADF. There will be wonderful opportunities that we will offer to SADF registered Amateurs, Professionals and Studios and encourage you to join our progressive Foundation which offers a plethora of opportunities to the dance community. The SADF appreciates your support and looks forward to seeing you at the SADF events in 2016. Let 2016 be a year where we leverage the successes of 2015 and take DANCE in South Africa to the next level. 2016 SADF CALENDAR OF EVENTS 8Jan16 Kindest regards SADF

The Annual Blackpool Insights Workshop is happening !!!!!!!!

• Remembering the Blackpool Insights on Sunday, 28 June 2015, 10h00  at Dance Domain Table View. A great value add and FREE to ALL SADF registered members.
• The rest of the Dance Community are welcome to attend at R50 p/p
• Looking forward to seeing you ALL at the WC Regional events this weekend.

SADF WC Medal Exams have been scheduled for 9 May. It is a great way to assess the dancer and improve on the fundamentals in dance. It is open to all studios (Competitive and Pro-Am International). Salome Sechele will be the Examiner for the Day. Please speak to WC Regional Branch i.e. Megan Theys (sadfheadoffice@gmail.com ) or Andre Cloete (andre.cloete1@gmail.com ) for more information.

SADF proudly hosts the 2015 Freedom Day Championship on 25 April 2015. The Championship will be held at Maragon School Grounds, Ruimsig, Gauteng. The Championship will include Ballroom, Latin American, Hip, Hop and Traditional dance sections.   This is also the first SADF Super Series competition for 2015 and  qualifier for SADF National Colours. The competition has been elevated to Championship level and there will be Freedom Day Champions!!! The anticipated registration is at 11h30 for 12h00 start. Kindly submit your Entry by the 31 March 2015. This is a hot competition on the SADF Calendar - be there!!!!

SADF FREEDOM DAY CHAMPIONSHIP 25APR15

MESSAGE FROM THE SADF NATIONAL CHAIRMAN

BELOVED Dancers, Teachers, Parents, Supporters and Organisers,

I am once more excited and honoured to welcome all of you to the 80th Chapter of the South African Open Dance Championships, featuring the Competitive, Social, Disco/Freestyle and Traditional Faculties of SADF. Our most sincere appreciation to ALL our dancers who have journeyed from all over the country and our neighboring states of Botswana and Lesotho, to come and contest for the South African Dance TITLES. Broadly speaking, the committed and dedicated team of officers of the South African Dance Foundation forms the backbone of the success of our ORGANISATION. The team excels and makes the SADF tasks a pleasant journey.

The objectives and achievements of the various Branches and Faculties are annually detailed separately and respectively, however, please allow me to mention some specific performance highlights: -

• During the 2014 WDC Meetings, the SADF achieved Membership of WDC AL which will broaden opportunities for our dancers, more importantly the international trends and standards,

• The SADF Super Series, with its three legs strongly entrenched, are now geared up to become Title Events with the 2015 Dancing Calendar looking exciting,

• Our AMBASSADORS in both the amateur and professional ranks have held the country’s flag high, understanding the pride of our country’s national colours whilst representing the country at the different dance championships across the universe,

• The SADF promoted a healthy Collaborative spirit, with its sister Faculties and Branches having shared platforms through developments workshops and at competitions such as this, where all our Faculties are able to UNITE for a common cause,

• The Membership Growth in general, has made significant improvements, New Office Bearers, the BOD, which also serves as EXCO, Branches and Faculties are in their new term of office

• Our IT System, with the LAUNCH of the new SADF website already up and running is a testimony of our willingness to share as much knowledge and information with our members thruogh technology. We therefore edge you to regularly visit the website and enjoy all reports and offerings that are brought to you by the SADF,

Regardless of the continued differences and difficulties which we usually stumble against in order to achieve our Vision, which is “One powerful and proactive voice representing all forms of dance in South Africa, able to interact with financial partners and the larger world of dance, to create an enabling environment for the development of dance at all levels and the success of every individual on the national and international stage”

Our vision remains clear.- We want to build an organisation where all our dancers enjoy decent dancing opportunities, which has a clear echelon that builds from individuals to groups to provincial organisation, to national organisation and to International, having a vibrant financial support, free and fair. Although the responsibility lies with the entrusted officers, we all have a responsibility to work hard to collectively make that a reality. It is therefore important that everyone think of how they can contribute towards that campaign which will in turn create opportunities for them and others as well.

To our deciding panel of judges, comperes, scrutineer, music operator, runners and the event oversee, your support services are very key as the success of this event will only be judged and reviewed by our audience, the public and the media once you have demonstrated integrity and excellence. A special welcome to Ms Anne Lingard from England, who also serve as the Secretary of the ISTD Competitive Faculty. We are delighted for her presence as the Chairperson of Judges.

To the organisers, lead by the Foundation’s CEO Ms. Marion Baxter, thank you for your selfless efforts and continued commitments. To the Board of Directors of SADF, thank you for your valued support, however I wish to remind you to always remember the promises we made to our dancers, the steps we need to continue taking. To that, I count on you and all other South Africans to work closely with the SADF in KEEPING THE DREAM ALIVE. All the best and

THANK YOU

Join the dance congress on 12 December 2014 hosted at the Alberton Civic Hall from 14h00-16h00. This is absolutely FREE!! Welcome to the workshop themed AGAINST ALL ODDS! This will be a fun filled, jam packed interactive program with Stan and Nombulelo and Salome Sechele! Bring your towel and water!

Introducing Our Panel of Adjudicators

12-13 December 2014

Chairperson : Anne Lingard (UK)

South African Open Dance Championships

(Traditional, Hip Hop, Ballroom, Latin American)

• Tyrone Watkins
• Miranda Botha
• Michael Wentink
• Gladys Bullock
• Eddie Goudge
• Tebogo Kgobokoe
• Salome Sechele

14-15 December 2014

Co-Chairpersons : Tyrone Watkins & Salome Sechele

South African Social Pro-Am Championships

• Gladys Bullock
• Brian Schmidt
• M Horn Vasconsellos
• Tebogo Kgobokoe
• Nicolene Prinsloo
• Dave Campbell
• Chantel Mouton
• Dalmarie Terblanche