Help get dancing duo to Denmark

Rogaja and Blaine took first place at the 2017 South African Dance Foundation Western Province Championships.

Ballroom dance duo champions Blaine Borez and Rogaja Saaiman have a string of medals to their names and they now have their sights set on the inaugural 2018 Summer Dance Cup competition and International Summer Dance Camp in Denmark this July.

Blaine, 13, from Table View, and Rogaja Saaiman, 13, from Atlantis, have been dance partners for four years and together they have obtained their provincial and South African colours and placed first in 27 local competitions including Rumba in the Jungle, at Sun City last year.

The duo attend the Clint Borez Dance studio in West Beach.

While Blaine needed some coaxing by his mother to give dancing a try, Rogaja knew dancing ran through her blood when she watched her aunt ballroom.

“I thought to myself couldn’t that be me. I was really interested in it, so my aunt took me to the Borez Dance Studio and after my first lesson I wanted to do it again because it felt so good.”

They dance the waltz, tango, foxtrot, Viennese waltz, and quickstep. The tango, however, is their favourite.

“It’s a powerful dance,” says Blaine, “It shows a lot of energy.”

“And that’s our strongest dance too” adds Rogaja. Blaine, a Table View High School pupil, says they hope to show off their skills at the 2018 Summer Dance Cup.

“We will be up against a lot of former world champions,” he says.

Both Blaine and Rogaja’s families are raising money to get them to Denmark.

“Our aim is to raise R70 000 to get both of them overseas. The entry fee is R7 000 each. So far we have about R12 000 saved,” says Blaine’s mother, Adele Borez.

The rest of the costs include their flights, accommodation, travel document costs and a one week dance training camp.

“Our parents work very hard. They do struggle to pay our school fees and our dance lessons — and there’s a lot of extra stuff that comes with it, so I don’t want to put too much pressure on them to help us do this. We would like to go, but if it’s going to take their whole life away, just for us to go to Denmark, then I wouldn’t want that,” says Blaine.

Parklands resident Dori Smith has a daughter who attends the same dance studio as Blaine and Rogaja.

She says when she first saw them dancing she was astounded by their talent and has made it a personal goal to do all she can to get them to Denmark.

“We need to show the world that Cape Town has that talent. It is difficult to get sponsorship for the arts but the arts are as important to a child’s development as other subjects.”

To help Rogaja and Blaine to get to Denmark for the 2018 Summer Dance Cup competition, go to https://www.backabuddy.co.za/blaine-rogaja-denmark-dancecup-2018 and pledge your support.

For more information about the dancing couple call 082 657 6566.