Get fit the fun way! At Freedom Dance Studio.

I was introduced to Jemma Badenhorst by a good friend of mine who shared the same love I had for dance. I attended one of her classes in 2020 and we hit it off right away. Over the last two years, I’ve watched and rooted for Jemma as she dances and sings her way through life. I thought naturally, I needed to write an article on this brilliant friend and teacher of mine. I hope you enjoy the read and I hope this inspires you to get up and dance.

Jemma is a Durban girl, born and bred – with a burning passion for creative arts-in allforms. She has been dancing since before she could ever walk, and performed for an audience (starting with her family) who have been her biggest fans since the tender age of three years old. “Being on stage is where I feel most alive”, she explains. “I started dancing at the age of 3. They offered ballet lessons at my pre-school-which was more of a chaotic mess of ‘fairies’ bouncing around, but we all have to start somewhere”, she laughs. “My passion for dancing grew from there, and I continued throughout the rest of my school career training in dancing”, Jemma further explains. Throughout her school career, Jemma was trained in many styles of dance, from Ballet, Modern, Latin and Ballroom and Freestyle which allowed her to qualify for SA champs and went on to win many awards. In her matric year, Jemma’s life changed when she was discovered by a local choreographer – Kevin Ellis, who booked her for her first professional gig at the age of 17. Since then, she has been dancing professionally for various corporates and events throughout South Africa, and London, and finished off in the Barnyard Theatre travelling SA with various shows. “Unfortunately, this took a toll on my body and I decided to go back to dance as a passion project and focus on singing to allow my body to recover. Dancing six nights a week in heels really took a toll on me, and I knew it was time to move on from this. I am now focussing more on my studio and choreographing shows and events with incredibly talented Durban dancers”, she explains.

In 2022, Jemma called upon Kirsty Motzouris – a beautiful, bubbly and vibrant dancer to join her studio. “I first met her after she joined a corporate gig that I could no longer do. I fell in love with her personality”, recalls Jemma. “She started joining our classes, and I felt that she just represented so much of what I loved for our studio. Talented, friendly, bubbly, encouraging-just honestly so different from many dancers I had encountered in my time as a professional. I asked her if she was open to teaching for me on days when I couldn’t, and our students fell in love with her as much as I did as she started her journey with us”, she says. At the end of 2022, Jemma made the move up North to Ballito with her family-and with leaving the Durban North studio in Kirsty’s capable hands, Jemma felt that the time was right and was super excited to expand her studio to Ballito and has started growing herdance community on the North Coast. This year, for the first time, Jemma and her students are hosting their very own studio show.“I see this as an opportunity for ladies to showcase how far they’ve come to their friends and families, most of the ladies are pushing outside their comfort zones and this will be their first show, I am so excited about it. We have such a supportive and encouraging community, and I keep letting them know that we are all in this together. This is not to try and be professional and addany pressure at all. we are all there to encourage and support each other, walk this journey together, and showcase just how far we have all come together, amongst all the challenges we have faced”, she explains.