THE Katlehong Community Dance Initiative (KCDI) inspires through dance.
The recognition of many problems facing the youth in Magagula Heights and surrounding areas of Katlehong, including a lack of opportunities for social engagement, a lack of direction or purpose and high unemployment.
These gave birth to the collaboration between the dance company, Moving into Dance, and Ithuba Community College (ICC).
The KCDI was launched in July.
This partnership kicked off with the hope of engaging young people in addressing social issues.
The project started with a holiday school programme at the ICC and continued as a progressive goal to attract other schools to incorporate dance into their extra-mural or school day activities.
Some of the schools that formed part of that project were Magagula Primary School and Umtholo Primary School, among others.
Classes were held at the ICC, the Magagula Community Hall, the Zonkizizwe Library and Vosloorus Stadium Hall.
On average, this project engages children, the youth and young adults aged between four and 34 in dance and dance performances reach over 860 people per week.
Nadia Virasamy, CEO of Moving into Dance Trust, said: “The KCDI was essentially about providing kids and the youth in the area a form of recreation through dance and inspiring them to drive employment opportunities through the performance arts. This is what we set out to do, and this is what we have achieved. Having worked with more than 800 kids and the youth per week has truly gone beyond all our expectations.”
