Dancesports

The Eastern Cape has a long and proud history of ballroom dancing and nowhere is this better reflected than at the University of Fort Hare.

Learning the foxtrot, tango, waltz and other styles has appealed to generations of students and the code remains as popular today as it was during the 20^th century.

Dancesport has been further formalised at Fort Hare since the turn of the millennium to allow its protégés to compete at tertiary, provincial, national and even international level.

In 2023, a Fort Hare team travelled to the Seychelles to compete at the All-African Artistic Dance Championships.

The five couples who made the journey to Africa’s smallest nation crowned this historic moment with eight trophies and the same number of medals.

The club is also a breeding ground for provincial representatives and it is common for the Eastern Cape to field a Fort Hare-heavy side in competition.

Couple Wanzi Maxhobi and Lorenzo Swartbooi became the first students from the university to be selected for South Africa when they danced their way into the national squad for the 2024 World Professional Standard Championships.

The success of the code at the institution is rooted as much in what it does for students’ all-round development as it is in receiving accolades.

Club members find that having to learn multiple routines for different styles keeps their mind and memory sharp, both of which benefit their studies.