Dance for All’s Senior Ballet Programme has been a successful and integral part of Dance for All’s training programmes for many years. With the main focus being on ballet training it is students from DFA’s Outreach Programme who show a particular talent for ballet that are accepted onto this programme.

However many of the Outreach Programme students display talents which lie in the contemporary and African dance styles, so it was felt that DFA needed to expand its training programmes by establishing the Senior Contemporary African Programme (SCAP) early in 2008.

    
DFA Senior Contemporary African Programme with guest teacher    During class in Athlone photo taken by Richard Olivier 2009
Maxwell Xolani Rani from UCT

SCAP, with its foundations based on the model of the Senior Ballet Programme, has the vision to nurture and develop the talent and technique of twenty-five selected students by intensifying their training in these dance styles and training them in self-discipline and focus. Plans have also been set afoot, funding permitted, for accomplished guest teachers to be brought in. They will conduct workshops with the students in order to further their skills and knowledge.

The twenty-five students, selected from the DFA Outreach Programme, are from various locations in Gugulethu, Nyanga and Khayelitsha. They receive intensive training three days a week; Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from Hope Nongqongqo. The Senior Contemporary African Programme students will be given the platform to stage performances and express themselves through contemporary African dance.  

 
SCAP & JCAP during class every Saturdays photo taken by Richard Olivier