On Saturday night (29 March) 17-year old Henk Opperman was crowned the best and most versatile dancer of kykNet's reality dance show
Dans! Dans! Dans!The Bloemfontein dancer was announced the winner of the competition in the shows finale spectacular that was broadcast live from Carnival City’s Mardi Gras Theatre.
After months of gruelling auditions and six spectaculars, Henk triumphed when the viewing public cast the most votes for him in the last official voting period.
The other three dancers in the finale were Andile Ndlovu (19) from Ennerdale, Johannesburg, Nicole McCreedy (28) from Durban and Yarisha Singh (27) from Cape Town.
At the start of the competition, the judging panel of Dirk Badenhorst, Lorcia Cooper and Esther Nasser picked a Super 14 group of dancers from over a thousand hopefuls during the nationwide audition phase.
These 14 finalists performed in weekly spectaculars in which the fearsome threesome of judges nominated contestants for elimination.
The nominated contestants were then at the mercy of the public who voted for their favourites to keep them in the competition.
The winner of Dans! Dans! Dans! was chosen entirely by the voting public. On Saturday night, the judges commented on the Top 4’s performances, but they had no influence on the final result.
During the 90 minute finale the rest of the Super 14 group made a comeback in an explosive opening number, choreographed by the dancers’ mentor, Christopher Kindo.
Andile, Henk, Nicole and Yarisha went on fight for their votes by performing various finale routines. Each of them performed two solo numbers - one which they chose the music for and choreographed themselves and one routine choreographed by a professional.
Each guy and each girl then paired up to dance together for a last time, performing sultry Latin American and traditional ballroom routines.
Two of the Super 14 finalists - Craig Arnolds (23) from Port Elizabeth and Mari-Louise Basson (24) from Craighall Park, Johannesburg - received one last DansKans from Christopher Kindo to dance a special routine on the night.
They performed a routine to the sounds of Sarie Marais, sung by the soulful former Crescendo winner Petronel Baard.
Members of the JazzArt dance school in Cape Town, who will showcase a special production for the Dans! Dans! Dans! winner, also performed and showed why this dance instution is one of the most prestigious in the country.
However, elimination was inevitable and when the auditor from Alexander Forbes handed over the envelope with the results to presenter Mia de Klerk, the tension was palpable. Andile was eliminated first, followed by Yarisha.
Henk and Nicole had to endure another few nailbiting moments as popular singer Kurt Darren took to the stage with the Super 14 finalists performing a pumping rendition of his latest single, Voorwaarts Mars.
Henk dances away with these prizes: R100 000 in cash, a Citroën C1, a one year Planet Fitness membership, a Nike gift hamper, a Corenergy course worth R92 000 and a dance production with Cape Town’s top dance academy, JazzArt.
-----