Issue no: 06
Obed started dancing at the age of
13, and 14 years later, he still
vibrates with equipoise of
all his power on the
dance floor. Inspired
by South Africa's
nine time world
professional Latin
dance champion
Bryan Watson,
Obed has since
evolved so much
over the years and
found his true love
for dance beyond
just technique and
style.
amateurs on the SABC 3's Strictly
Come Dancing Season 8 show.
Obed shared his
experiences with MAM
about the dancing
industry, his goals
and aspirations.
Absolute Love
For Dancing
From dancing at matric
farewells and graduation
ceremonies in his small
community and school halls of
Mankweng Township, in Limpopo province,
to sharing big stages with celebrities and
established professional dancers, Obed has
successfully accomplished excellent
accolades at a tender age.
He showcased his nimble ,agile , smooth
graceful manoeuvres from 2006-2008 at the
Youth Latin SA Champion ,for five years from
2008 to 2013 at the Adult SA and Gauteng
Latin Dance Championship competitions ,
he won both the Limpopo Dance With The
Stars and Limpopo Dance To Be The
Biggest Looser competitions in 2009 and
2012 respectively , finished in top 16 in the
2013 season of So You Think You Can
Dance South Africa, and was recently one
of the professional dancers paired with
www.megaartists.co.za
Obed says when
he was introduced
to Latin dance he
got instantly
smitten and star
struck. “It was love
at first sight. From the
moment I saw Latin
dance and stepped in a
dance class I was hooked.
Obed's love for Latin dance
and dance in general is
unconditional. “There isn't one specific
thing that I like about what I do. All I can say
is that I love it as a whole. I love performing,
so definitely one thing would have to be
when I am on stage in front of thousands of
people. It gives me the ultimate rush. I
express every single emotion on the dance
floor and I feel relaxed doing so. I think
dance allows you to express yourself freely
through controlled movement to music. You
start to blossom as you learn different forms
of dance.”
About So You Think You Can Dance
& Strictly Come Dancing
After many years of practice and entering
dance tournaments and performing at small
events, his wish was to share the stage with
the creme de la crème of the dancing circle.
Nov-Dec 2015
Page 9