SPOTLIGHT ON: Johannes Radebe

Johannes Radebe was born to dance, but starting out was what he called “a fluke”. He told me: “I went to do some modern dancing, and traditional dancing in my South African township of Zamdela. They were recruiting kids from the streets to do ballroom and Latin. I was more attracted to the glittery costumes than the dancing. I was 7”.

Subjected to bullying, name calling and being chased at school, he found a sanctuary: “ thank goodness for dancing and my mamma. She knew I was Gay and told me there was nothing wrong with me. I had validation at home. Dance practice was my refuge”.

In South Africa he competed in major competitions, including twice winning the professional Latin championships. He performed with the Afro Arimba Dance Company and on a cruise liner which allowed the young dancer to travel the world. A chance to appear on the South African version of Strictly led him to watch what he called “ the UK mothership”, and he went on to appear in the international show Burn The Floor. At the Peacock Theatre in London the Strictly executives saw him,”so I was on their radar”.

Pretty slow radar though and it was quite some time later on Johannes’ birthday, April 27 and Freedom Day in South Africa that he finally got the call. “For the first time I was allowed to dream the dream of freedom”.

And he hit the national consciousness with two particular dances – the first all-male professional couple dance with Graziano Di Prima in 2019 and then leading a tribute in drag to musical Priscilla in 2020.The show organisers wanted him to be comfortable with the idea: “we can trust you with it, they told me”. But the social media reaction was not entirely positive.

Fast forward to the 2021 season and Johannes breaks further ground by being paired with Bake Off winner John Whaite. ”In the last two years there’s been an awakening in society”, Johannes tells me. I wondered how quickly he had worked out that John could dance. “He’s tall and has broader shoulders than me, so I wondered how are we gonna do this? I told him he would have to lose his inhibitions, and behave as if nobody was watching. I saw his confidence grow and he moved more freely, and exposed himself emotionally”.

I asked him about his tearfulness on results nights: “ they were tears of joy. I had a feeling of being seen for who I was and removing the stigma and breaking down barriers. I hope next time there’s a same-sex couple on the show there is not so much publicity. I hope we will have moved on as people”.

I wondered if the couple started to think they could win the famous glitter ball. “ We took it week by week and based it on the dancing. I said that people were not gonna buy into crap- as long as the dancing was great we could kick everybody off the show. But I was a hot mess every week. I couldn’t believe people were voting for us”. And of course eventually they came second in the tense final.

Now Johannes is on the road with his own creation – a dance show called Freedom that goes back and pays homage to his South African roots. ”It has two singers and lots of dancers; it has heels, feathers and fans” he tells me laughing out loud on our zoom call.

“It’s been painfully joyous to put it together. I’ve just seen the set and it represents where I come from. I’ve toured before but this is different and I’m definitely going to take it to South Africa. It’s important to go back and inspire dancers there”. I asked if he had a coming out story.

“My cousin told me when I appeared in heels in Strictly that my aunts and uncles would know that I was Gay”, and he laughs again. Freedom the show and the concept is clearly at the heart of what Johannes is and does. “ It’s about the pride it brings me and my people – from fiery Latin to elegant ballroom, and with beautiful African influences. I want people dancing in the aisles at this show. No more fear of self-expression. You have to believe in yourself and be yourself – the world around you will adjust”.