MBABANE – Local emerging dancers Nothando Makhanya and Welcome Mavoka are set to represent the nation at the World Federation of Acrobatic Dances and Dance Sport (WFADS) Acro-Swing World Cup in Moscow, Russia.
The duo’s participation marks a significant milestone for the newly-formed Eswatini Federation of Acrobatic and Swing Dances (EFASD), which secured an official invitation to the high-stakes international competition.
The Acro-Swing World Cup, scheduled to take place on November 23, 2025, will see the Eswatini dancers competing against top talent from around the globe.
The duo will be led by their Coach, Nonsika Lukhele, who had been training the dancers all along, during the press conference, she mentioned that they had been invited earlier this year in Russia for a training and they qualified to participate in Russia, hence their invitation now.
“We will be leaving on Friday , we have worked so hard, especially because this is a new sport introduced in Eswatini,” she said.
She invited more willing candidates to join them in the sport to get physically fit and switch off from social media. One of the representatives, Nothando Makhanya, expressed her excitement: “I feel so happy that I will be competing in my very first Acro-Swing competition, all the way in Russia”.
Acro-Swing is a relatively new but rapidly growing dance discipline under the WFADS banner, blending the dynamic, athletic lifts and throws of acrobatic rock’n’roll with the smooth, improvisational partner work of swing dance.
Happiness Banda, the President of the federation, mentioned that they have, thus was their third trip, having previously been to Senegal, and Dubai, “ and today I am happy to introduce to you the team heading to Russia, but the main thing is to encourage every parent and school, this is a sport we have introduced in schools to help the children to be fit and create opportunities as well, like entrepreneurship, they can open up studios and also enrich our culture because as they go to represent Eswatini, they promote our culture. She also appreciated Macford Sibandze for sponsoring the children with pocket money, as the children go to represent the country in Russia. Sibandze, delivering his speech, promised to continue supporting the children even in other trips.
The team behind the trip to Russia, from L-R Macford Sibandze, one of the sponsors, Happiness Banda, the President of the Eswatini Acro-Swing Federation, Nonsika Lukhele the Coach of the dancers and owner of Sisky-Studios, one of the dancers Nothando Makhanya and Mphumelelo Lukhele, the Coordinator of Eswatini Acro-Swing Federation.