SACU had its first dance-a-thon on Monday in order to raise funds for the work the organisation does. The event took place over the Memorial Day holiday and attracted participants from both Southern Africa and the U.S. who gathered to get fit by dancing to the rhythms of world music.
The streets of Washington DC were filled with the vibes of Latin, Afro-Latino and African music for two hours which promoted some people passing by to stop, watch or dance!
The dance sessions, which were sponsored by Cheza! Dance!, consisted of two types of music. The first hour was a Zumba session which included dancing to high energy Latin beats which were led by Valentina-Rachel Nghiwete, a certified Zumba instructor.
The second session, also led by Nghiwete, consisted of Cheza! A high and low impact dance session that makes use of contemporary and classic African beats. Participants therefore danced to popular hits from all over Africa such as the music from Davido, Brenda Fassie, P-Square and many others which made for a fun African-style workout! One participant noted, “…this was more like a dance party – I didn’t even think I was working out, but I got a good work out!”
The dance-a-thon was organized by SACU in conjunction with sponsors Cheza!Dance!, who provided the dance instructor, as well as BloomBars who provided the venue and technical staff.
It was also well attended by SACU board members who took this time to get fit as well as get to know participants. Overall, the event attracted nearly 15 participants and the SACU board was pleased with the attendance at its inaugural dance-a-thon. As such, SACU plans on holding another dance-a-thon over the summer and hopes to get more people involved!