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When age doesn't matter A short essay featuring show couple from the recent 2006 FEDANSA South African Ballroom and Latin Championships in Uitenhage.
A. HUTT & S. CUMMINGS [GAUTENG] Senior 2 Championship Standard
It is always a
pleasure and a welcome surprise to come across a couple at a Championships who
embody and embrace
the true spirit of sportsmanship, participation and quiet grace. To me this
couple - A Hutt & S. Cummings of Gauteng - dispelled all notion that a sport be reserved
for the young and the fit. But on the day, it was the (B)old and the Beautiful
who showed everyone that dancing can be fun, fun, fun! What a lovely performance
from these two gentle people!
Sue Cummings, when asked her age said, "I'll whisper it to you, so don't tell anybody!". I can tell you the lady is in her seventies. That doesn't really qualify as divulging her age, does it? But what did it matter anyway? It was about age and doing something - dancing - for the sheer joy if it. Nothing appeared too difficult for them to do as the spontaneous applause from the audience proved when they did a promenade run. I looked around me and saw some people gaping like fish in utter awe. Was it because they were seniors - masters, really? I was told by Mr Hutt that his partner started ballroom a year ago catching on very quickly with her background of ballet.
I really enjoyed watching this couple dance, not only for the knowledge of their seniority in the masters category, but showing everyone how they could transcend the ordinary and move as if the graces themselves were at work. A genuinely lovely, friendly and open combination eager to speak of their accomplishments yet with so much humility and quiet pride. It was, in a word, humbling. Age doesn't matter indeed, and with dancing ballroom?
What a way to invest in one's health and well-being. A sport which I'm always willing to tell everyone who asks, "is a year round sport" in which children doing dancesport are fitter than the average school athlete. Wasn't it Mr Hutt himself who said that rugby players wouldn't last in a five dance! And while there may be some who disagree with his statement, let's see how rugby players fare, shall we? Picture great Schalk Burger looking "lomp" and complaining of breathlessness! Or little Bolla Conradie saying, "Ek, ballroom dans? Nooit gesien nie!"
I tip my imaginary hat to a wonderful people made my day at the Championships. My hopes are that they continue in the sport they love and to express themselves with grace, with dignity and above all, to enjoy dancesport.
Edited to add: Most recently they featured at the Western Cape World Trials held in Oudtshoorn and showed just why they have become one of the most well-liked couples around!
vanhunks
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