Durban ballerina Cadee van Aswegen aims for glory at Young America Grand Prix in Texas
Cadee van Aswegen who has been chosen to participate in the Young American Grand Prix Ballet Competition in Texas, USA.
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A Young ballerina from Durban is hoping to make it big in the USA after she was chosen to be in the finals of the Young America Grand Prix (YAGP) in Texas next month. However her journey to stardom will only be realised if she raises the funds required.
Cadee van Aswegen (17), was invited after being placed in the Top 12 in both her Classical and Contemporary solos in the YAGP Virtual Competition.
Her mother Natasha van Aswegen said this is Cadee's chance to participate in one of the world's biggest ballet competitions.
"She is as far as I know, the only South African that made it to the finals." She said her daughter has previously participated several times in the South African International Ballet Competition in Cape Town, at one point coming third in the Classical Repertoire and sixth in the Contemporary dance category.
"Last year it was a much more tougher competition, but she came 12th in both her classical and contemporary categories. She also received a few scholarships from the South African International Ballet Competition with organisations that they are affiliated with."
Cadee van Aswegen during one of her performances.
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Van Aswegen said her daughter fell in love with ballet at four years old and has been dancing ever since.
"She dances with Breakthrough Dancing Academy and she's been with them for 11 years. She practices classical, neo-classical, contemporary ballet, and jazz. She does quite a few within the dance world. The Young America Grand Prix is a purely classical ballet competition."
She said her daughter participates through her home studio in productions every year in Durban and last year was cast in the lead role in Snow White.
"She was the Golden Ballerina, she was the Queen of Hearts (in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland). They do it at quite a professional level and they do it at the Playhouse Theatre in Durban."
YAGP is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious ballet competitions in the world, known for connecting young dancers with leading international ballet schools and company directors.
In addition to her finals invitation, Cadee has also been awarded a scholarship to attend the YAGP Ravenna Festival in Italy as well as International Contemporary Masters in New York, further recognising her potential.
Cadee van Aswegen has started a Backabuddy campaign to raise funds so that she can participate in Young American Grand Prix Ballet Competition inTexas.
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For the YAGP competition, she first entered virtually. YAGP does live competitions all over the world, except for South Africa and few other countries.
"We chose to do the virtual competition and that is where Cadee was chosen to be in the top 12 and will be part of about 500 participants from all over the world in the live competition in Texas in May. "
She said it is not just about the competition, or whether you come first, second or third, but it is a chance to be seen by global directors of ballet companies and dance companies from all over the world.
"For those that want to pursue it as a profession, they would then have the chance to be scouted by these directors that are actually having their eyes on these participants as they are performing."
She said the competition also gets streamed on Youtube, and it is therefore a big deal for someone that does want to pursue it as a profession.
She said her daughter needs about R65 000 to get to Texas and be in the competition and has started a Backabuddy fundraising campaign and is also furiously fundraising on her own."
"She does little workshops, she does babysitting, she does raffles.She is doing anything and everything to help her get there, because it is quite expensive and is not something that anyone can prepare you for."
For Cadee, just getting the invitation to participate was confirmation that she was on the right path.
"To be at the finals would mean to be seen by right people at the right time and would be a once in lifetime gateway into my dance career as a professional. It would really help me being seen by the right people who will make my face known, make my name known. It would really help me access opportunities that can change my future, to be honest."
Cadee said one of her goals for the future is to participate in the Prix de Lausanne, an even more prestigeous competition.
"That is almost like the Olympics of ballet, to be honest and just to be accepted is something that companies cannot ignore."
An important part of her journey she said is also for other young people to see that it can also happen for them, no matter where they are from or their background.
To help Cadee reach her dream go to her Backabuddy page and donate there.