Can you do the diski?
The dance that was taught to thousands across the country in preparation for the World Cup hasn’t been seen in stadiums — much to the chagrin of Wendy Ramokgadi, the dance’s choreographer.
He was approached by South African Tourism last year to develop a dance that football supporters could learn and perform during the World Cup festivities.
SA Tourism had come up with the concept and, through a casting agency, chose Ramokgadi and his events company, Kasietainment, to create a dance that matched the concept.
Ramokgadi says he was paid about R35 000 as a choreographing fee.
Chief marketing officer Roshene Singh explained that all products of SA Tourism are freely available for the promotion of
the country.
‘The dance is an SA Tourism concept — but it is the people’s dance,” said Singh.
SA Tourism hired Ramokgadi and his dancers to hit the road and teach the dance. After travelling around the country and the world for the past year, he assumed that the dance would be included in the opening ceremony. But that has come and gone and the diski dance seems to have become a feature of the past — part of the pre-World Cup fever.
Adding to Ramokgadi’s disappointment is with his frustration at the fact that the dance is being taught around the country by non-official diski dancers who charge businesses far more than his own dancers to teach the dance.
‘They don’t even teach the diski dance, just something that looks like it,” he said.
Two dancers in the opening ceremony , Kyle Verbeek and Yaron ‘Blaze” Blasbalg, have never met Ramokgadi, but were paid by different agencies to teach the dance. Blasbalg and Verbeek would charge anything between R500 and R2 500 to teach the dance, depending on who their clients were.
The planning committee for the closing ceremony is discussing the possibility of including the dance at the final game.
Ramokgadi has already been approached by some of his dancers, who have been invited to audition for the closing ceremony, but has heard nothing from SA Tourism.
‘I wanted to be there — After all my efforts, I don’t know what to think. I don’t know if I’m maybe being snubbed.”
SA Tourism’s Singh does not support Ramokgadi’s complaint. According to her, the diski dance ‘belongs to the people” and is still being used outside the stadiums. It has now been decided that the dance will be performed at official fan
parks and supporters will be able to join in there.
‘We think Wendy is making a personal issue out of what belongs to the country,” Singh said.
Article courtesy of Wits Journalism School’s 2010 newsroom