SA may struggle in disciplines such as soccer and basketball, but if there is one thing the world knows about us, it’s that dancing comes naturally.
With a dancing president, it’s safe to assume the whole country can get down to any beat, anytime, anywhere. It is as if the urge to dance starts in the maternity ward. That could also explain why we have so many TV shows in SA modelled around dancing.
One of the latest shows to pay homage to dance is Turn It On, which airs on Wednesdays on SABC1. Interestingly, the show eclipses the slot of the hit dance show Jika Majika on which Thembi Seete shows off her moves while also hosting.
While Nolly Meje (pictured) is not as animated as Seete, she will bring her own flavour as host to the new season of Turn It On. But Meje is not the only new member of the show – the director, Marvin Raftopoulos, also lends his impressive skills.
Raftopoulos was the director of Vuzu’s Masters of Rhythm which saw hip hop crews battle it out and judges decide on a winner. Turn It On is the same, only it’s individuals not crews who show how well they can move. “In the first stage the dancers are allowed to do freestyle moves of their choices,” explained Raftopoulos.
He said the contestants then danced a second round and were judged on their performance.
“We have Versatile forming part of the judging panel and Chomee will not be with us this time. We have also invited a lot of guest judges who include Benni McCarthy and Khanyi Mbau,” he said.
Each episode starts with four contestants and they battle it out until one wins. The audience chooses the winner, who gets a cool R5 000 for their trouble.
“We have also upped our game by inviting professional groups such as Thembisa Revolution to show off their skills. The contes- tants are ordinary youngsters we source and they are not dancing as a profession,” Raftopoulos said.
The contestants hail from across SA and Raftopoulos said they travelled to the major cities to find talent: “We go to locations that represent the genres we will be showcasing,” he said.
• Turn It On premieres on Wednesday, 7pm, on SABC1.