After years as a dance sensation, Bontle Modiselle is looking forward to an exciting year ahead, as she prepares to teach amapiano dance moves in Thailand.
The new mother of two spoke exclusively to Sowetan about her plans to hold dance classes in Asia and opened up about the recent viral moment when global streaming star IShowSpeed (Darren Jason Watkins Jr) learnt amapiano during his South African visit last week – a moment she believes affirmed her growing role as a cultural ambassador for the local dance scene.
What was it like teaching Speed to dance amapiano?
Like most people, I follow Speed, and I’ve known his work for a long time. I knew his tour was coming up, but there was never a plan to meet up or anything like that. I didn’t know the mechanics or the logistics. Then around mid-December, Lee-Roy James, who I worked with before, called me on the 27th or 28th of December and asked what I was doing on January 2. At first I was like, “It’s the second of Jan, why would I do that?” Then he told me it was Speed, and I was like, “Oh yeah, definitely”.
Nothing was locked in immediately. We were still fleshing out the creative. Initially, he just wanted Speed and me, and I was fine with that. But as days went by, I thought, how do we make this bigger? How do we make it about energy and culture? That’s when I suggested including Robot Boii and adding more dancers. I reached out to Tom London, found studios, and asked him to bring as many dancers as possible, including kids. We kept adding creatives and building the moment.
Everything looked very spontaneous. How structured was the day?
We had to play it by ear. Speed changes his mind a lot. There was a time slot allocated, but you really had to be flexible. Still, everything worked out in the end.
How did it feel to teach a global star like Speed your dance moves?
I wasn’t fanning out or anything like that, but I appreciated his presence and understood the responsibility behind it. I knew this could change the narrative around SA internationally. There’s a lot of propaganda and negativity about our country, but I didn’t want to politicise anything. For me, it was about showcasing our culture – a culture that has completely changed the frequency of the world.
I enjoyed watching him hear our music, feel the energy, and learn the dance – it was more than just 10 minutes of dancing. His digital footprint is forever. He could have said, “This place is terrible”, and it would have caused serious damage. Instead, his experience was beautiful, and that weight of responsibility can’t be undermined.
Was the dance lesson rehearsed beforehand?
No, it was completely on the spot. I went back and watched his old dance videos to see what his body naturally does. In moments like that, you don’t want to overcomplicate things.
We chose two moves that were current but achievable. The “zip” is quite complex; even South Africans struggle with it, but Speed does a lot of footwork-based dances, so I trusted he’d be able to do it… and he did.
You and Robot Boii are known faces in the amapiano dance scene – how would you describe your partnership?
We’ve known each other since we were teenagers doing dance competitions. We understand people and how to make things accessible. We bring different expertise together, but we also know not to overdo it.
We come, we show up, we disappear – and then we come back again. That gives people room to miss us. South Africans get bored quickly, so timing is important.
What does Speed’s tour mean for South African and African digital creators more broadly?
They should dream bigger. Explore Africa. Have they been to Uganda? Botswana? They should give themselves permission to expand what they think is possible. Our digital space is growing, even though remuneration isn’t the same as in places like the US. Creators must continue. They can only get better from here.
Looking ahead, what does 2026 hold for you?
2026 is going to be a great year. I’m travelling to Thailand in March to teach dance with another South African dancer, Bo Boy. We’re exporting Amapiano culture.
There’ll be more international dance classes, but this is also the year I want to be braver. I want to revisit unfinished creative projects. Motherhood has given me the permission to try, fail, succeed, and model that courage for my children to reflect on one day.
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