Meet this week’s cool kid on campus, who is using dance to help students manage university life.
Bathandwa Mtshikwana, a final year student in social work uses her platform to encourage dance as a form of expression.
Mtshikwana’s love for dancing started at a young age, unfortunately, she was not able to carry out her passion for a couple of years, as she attended a high school that did not offer dance as an extracurricular activity. Her love for dancing was reignited in her second year at Wits University where she started holding informal dance classes in the residence building she lived in.
Initially, Mtshikwana says she got noticed in the gym, showing a self-choreographed routine to a friend. “A girl entered and she said how cool the routine was. She asked how often I do it and if she could join. Right at that particular moment, I got the idea that I could do this more often” she explains.
Bathandwa using dance classes to help students manage university life. Photo: Provided
The dance classes have helped students who are dealing with academic pressure and have become a sort of therapy and a temporary escape from life and stresses that come with it. “A lot of students express themselves through dance, “Some students have found healing and some have found a social light,” she said.
Throughout the years, these dance classes have grown into large numbers. They have also landed Mtshikwana a few opportunities, among them being a dance choreographer for a music video and appearing on a television show as a backup dancer.
FEATURED IMAGE: Image of Bathandwa Mtshikwana. Photo: Provided
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