Algoa FM DMB show content producer Carol Ann Kelleher and dance partner Andrew Serfontein foxtrotted their way to the bank with a cash prize of R10,000 in aid of the Animal Welfare Society after winning 2018’s Sway in the Bay competition at the Feather Market Centre on Friday.
The Bay version of television dance show Strictly Come Dancing saw six city personalities – and their experienced dance partners – put their best foot forward in dance styles ranging from the tango, waltz, samba to cha-cha and slow rhythm foxtrot to the quickstep to earn the cash prize for a charity foundation of their choice.
Kelleher danced a slow rhythm foxtrot with two-time gold medallist dancer Serfontein to a roaring audience.
The couple went up against Sun Boardwalk Mr PE UberMANn 2018 Ofentse Boloko and his partner Amy Erasmus in aid of Coastal Water Rescue, Kingfisher FM’s Gareth Burley and Sam Antolik in aid of Love Story, NMB Tourism chair Buli G Ngomane and Chris Marinus for the Missionvale Care Centre, Survivor SA: Philippines season 6 winner Tom Swartz and Liezl Matthews for Reach for a Dream, and public relations guru Carol-Anne Cash with Ryan Karshagen in aid of the Smile Foundation.
“It was such a wonderful experience and luckily my partner was very patient with me throughout our time together,” Kelleher said.
“I thought maybe I would be somewhere in the top three but winning was a wonderful surprise.”
The dancers met eight weeks in advance of the show to rehearse.
“I did ballet for a couple of years from when I was 14 years old, but that was it,” Kelleher said.
“I have no more dance experience other than that, and after this competition I am wondering why I never discovered my dancing talent.”
The former radio presenter said she had formed a relationship with the Animal Welfare Society about seven years ago.
Her donation will go towards the society’s pitbull rescue programme.
“I root for all animal shelters, and any one of them that asks me to do something for them I show up because they are all doing amazing work,” she said.
Kelleher and Serfontein took first place with 115 points, followed by cha-cha dancers Ngomane and Marinus with 105, while Swartz and Matthews’s quickstep landed them at third place with 100.
Sway in The Bay is the brainchild of Nelson Mandela University ballroom and Latin American dance team head coach Miranda Botha.
Botha, the founder of Miranda’s School of Dance, pioneered the competition several years ago.