National dance sport team selected for Barcelona Dance International

Members of the national dance sport team recently received their national colours from the Namibia Sport Commission in Windhoek. The team is expected to participate in the Barcelona Dance International competition, which is scheduled to take place from 15 to 19 April in Madrid, Spain.

The competition was set to see 15 countries and 190 athletes competing in four disciplines such as hip-hop, ethnic, contemporary and musical. In total, Namibia fielded 19 dancers and two team chaperons.

Team manager Pieter Swarts was very excited that the team could represent the country and Africa as a whole, saying: “We are the only country from Africa so we are very proud to represent our country and also our continent at this event”. The Namibian team’s ages range from nine to 44, with Alyna Swarts being the youngest.

When asked what it was like to have a nine-year-old on the team, Pieter called it a privilege.

He further encouraged young athletes. “I would like to tell every young person out there who likes music, who likes to perform and likes to dance to get involved in your local studio.”

Team captain Clara Bauleth added “I’m proud to be part of this team. We want dance to become a known sport and that is what we are trying to do”.

The team is in high spirits and believes they can secure a few medals from the tournament, Pieters said.

“There’s one dance in particular called Dessert Dry; it embodies who we are as a country and it’s a well-choreographed African piece. We really hope it will take gold at the event.”