Gadi Schor has recently returned to live in Cape Town after performing and teaching dance in New York for 17 years.
Gadi was featured in the Cape Jewish Chronicle in 1987, as we reported on his achievements as a young dancer. He was incredibly successful throughout his dancing years in Cape Town, winning all his examinations and competitions, including the most outstanding entrant at the Cape Town Eisteddfod six times. Gadi went on to win the South African Modern Dance Championships in 1992.
Gadi returned to live in Cape Town late last year and was immediately invited by the TDA to adjudicate at their Eisteddfod held in Sea Point. At his new studio Gotta Dance with Gadi Schor he is sharing his wealth of overseas dance experience with many of the children whose parents once danced beside him in class and at Eisteddfods.
The CJC chatted to Gadi about his experiences in the US and back home.
“I’ve been living in NYC (Manhattan) for the last 17 years. Wow, what an amazing experience. I started by training at the Broadway Dance Center, who also eventually became my sponsor into the US. From there I started auditioning and got my first break in a show called A Few Good Men Dancing — just off Broadway, followed by the radio Christmas spectacular at Radio City Music Hall. This was a big break since I met Gracielle Danielle (choreographer, director) who used me in many of her productions after that. Within the NYC vicinity I did Hairspray, Wicked, Kiss Me Kate and Footloose, amongst others. I also kept my training going at Broadway Dance Center, Steps and Ailey School.
“I got into my teaching and choreography in my mid 30s with a school in New Jersey called Dance Attitudes. We did a lot of regional and national competitions and I gained much experience in the teaching fields with that. One of our pupils even was in High School Musical 3 and now is on The Bold and the Beautiful.
“So at present I am teaching at Herschel girls school and now have opened my own studio in Sea Point, ‘Gotta Dance with Gadi Schor’. As well as working very closely with the theater dance association. This first year, my intention is to get the kids in my studio acclimated into my style of dance whilst improving on their basic technical understanding of dance. I’m still very big into the Broadway showy dancing but I do come from a strong modern training as well … so I guess a fusion of both. I’d eventually like to open a kid dance company and production company affiliated with the school.”
