At 13 years old, Lethabo Monametsi knew exactly what she wanted to be. Unlike many of us who grew up watching Strictly Come Dancing, waltzing and doing the tango in the little passages of our homes, Monametsi had the conviction to tell her mother that this was all she wanted to do.
Today, she is on that very stage she saw on television on Sunday evening on SABC 2. She is part of season 24 of Strictly Come Dancing, which premiered in South Africa on Monday, 28 September.
Monametsi says all this happened by chance.
A dance studio was opening in her area. The studio was going to collaborate with her primary school. After attending a class, she went back home and told her mother to enrol her at the studio because this was what she wanted to do.
“I always say that it’s almost as though dance found me,” she says.
It was, she recalls, love at first dance.
“I got into that studio and even though I started dancing at the age of 13, even though I was a late starter in the competitive dance space, I knew immediately that no matter what, I’m going to push myself because I have definitely found the love of my life.”
Crafting a career around the arts has been an age-old conversation around the dinner table for black families.
Excellence and success are often measured by the traditional careers parents hope their children will pursue.
Monametsi was not spared.
Instead, she pursued a bachelor of arts degree, majoring in law, from the University of the Witwatersrand.
“I will say I am an academic and an artist. I've been able to satisfy both sides of my family. I'm someone who loves the arts but I also love challenging myself in other areas as well.”
Being able to dance in two worlds — academia and the arts — requires a high level of discipline to be successful in either. A lot of the stories one reads will always tell the tale of the ultimate sacrifice because, had this been easy, most people would do it.
Monametsi says that is the recipe. Discipline was all she needed to give her community, especially her mother, a law degree while making sure that her dream of dancing across the world comes to fruition.
It is the same discipline she goes back to when she is on the ballroom floor.
“It's a lot of mental preparation. I will say that because competitive Latin and ballroom dancing require you to step onto a stage to be judged. So, you step onto a stage aware that whatever you do may not necessarily please the adjudicators who are watching you dance and it's okay. And even the audience; you have no control over how the audience responds and whether the judges really appreciate the technique level,” she says.
Her preparation has often involved returning to the reason she dances. As a Christian, she says gospel music has helped her quiet her mind and reconnect with what dance means to her.
“I dance because it’s my form of worship,” she says. “It’s my form of just acknowledging the fact that I’ve been blessed through the gift of dance.”
The discipline has followed her into adulthood.
“I am so grateful that I got into dance because it bled into other areas of my life as well,” she says. “I’m now able to approach everything with such an acute understanding of how to manage my emotions, how to shut down the noises and how to move into what is required of me.”
That resilience would become particularly important when the opportunity to join Strictly Come Dancing arrived.
Monametsi did not apply for Strictly Come Dancing; she was found through social media. A producer of the show sent her an email with the opportunity and after making sure that everything checked out, she knew she had to take it.
“At some point I was like: Is this actually the email? I had to check on the internet if this person actually works at BBC because my emotions can’t get invested and then I find out it’s a scam.”
The opportunity made sense in retrospect.
Monametsi had started in competitive Latin and ballroom before Covid interrupted that trajectory. She subsequently moved into commercial dance, working across television and live performance. That combination of ballroom and Latin training, commercial experience and versatility gave her a background that could translate to the demands of Strictly.
She also credits the work she had done in South Africa, including the relationships she had built with choreographers and other performers, with helping her reach the show.
“Eventually my work ethic and my discipline have led me to places where people were referring me to other people. There were people vouching for me, saying: ‘You need to work with this person, you need to see how she is as a performer.”
“I'm grateful that the discipline that I put in every single opportunity ended up allowing me to eventually find myself on a platform this big.”
Then she arrived.
The same people she admired and studied on television were in the same ballroom studio as her.
“I had an admiration for every single professional dancer on the show. So to step into the rehearsal room and see the people you admire in real time, I was just like: ‘Oh, gosh, it’s happening!’”
Scary as that may be and intimidating as the opportunity presents itself, Monametsi says that she keeps reminding herself that she has to trust herself and her gift.
Having just aired, with every episode playing on BBC Brit (DStv Channel 120) every Sunday at 7pm, we have more episodes to watch as Monametsi represents South Africa on such a big stage.
She says we should look forward to the upcoming Movie Week routine inspired by Zootopia. The number is particularly meaningful to her because of her love for children and the broad appeal of the film.
It all began with a relentless 13-year-old asking her mother to take her to a dance studio.
If she could speak to her younger self, she would tell her to keep going.
“Dance is going to take you to places that you can’t even dare to dream about today because you’ve not seen and you’ve not yet experienced the beauty of this craft. Keep the faith, keep going and keep pouring your heart out because one of these days, it will all make sense and you'll understand that you truly found your truest calling.”