Acrobatic dancer goes national at just 10

At just 10 years old, Emily Yakcobi is about to take part in the national acrobatic dance championships in Johannesburg. She has made it there in her very first year competing. 

Yakcobi, a pupil at Herzlia Highlands Primary School in Cape Town, began dancing at the age of six. Although she now speaks passionately about acrobatic dance, her journey into the performing arts was not her own idea. “When I was younger, I did ballet. I didn’t want to do it, but my mum signed me up for it,” she says. “I did enjoy it.” 

Yakcobi’s dancing was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the break from ballet led her to focus more seriously on acrobatics. “That’s when I started acrodancing,” she says. “And I’ve been doing this ever since.” 

Acrobatic dance, often shortened to “acro”, combines different dance styles with gymnastics and acrobatic tricks. Yakcobi describes it as “a mix of acrobatics and dance, like modern and some ballet”. 

Although she has been training for years, this year was her first competing in dance competitions. Before this, she had focused on examinations to progress through the dance levels. 

Yakcobi recently reached another milestone by passing what she calls her “Tan Shield” exam, part of her sixth year of dancing. 

“At the start of the year, when you sign up to do Acrobatic Sports South Africa, our coach gave us a dance to learn,” Yakcobi says. “There’s specific tricks we have to then add into the dance and those are the tricks that they mark.” 

She said this was a learning experience ahead of the more demanding competition rounds that followed. 

From there, Yakcobi progressed to the regional, then the district, and finally interdistrict competitions. At every stage, dancers need to achieve specific scores to move forward. “I had to practise after the club competition to see everything that I got wrong, to fix my mistakes,” she says. 

At district level, competitors need a mark of 6.8 or higher to qualify for the interdistrict competition. The pressure intensified. “When I reached interdistricts, I had to get a 7.5 to pass,” Yakcobi says. “And I got it exactly on the dot to pass to nationals.” 

The young dancer surprised herself. “I was very surprised and happy because in all the other competitions I haven’t got anything close to 7.5,” she says. “It was really a miracle when I got it on the dance and I passed.” 

Now preparing to travel to Johannesburg later this month, Yakcobi will compete on the national stage representing the Western Province region. 

Balancing schoolwork, training, and friendships hasn’t been easy, she says. Yakcobi trains after school on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, as well as on most Saturdays. The demanding schedule has meant giving up other sports she enjoys. 

“I really love netball, but I can’t do that because of my acrobatics this year. I can’t really do any other sports outside of school. That’s practically the main thing I’m focusing on.” 

Yakcobi says one of the most rewarding parts of dance is seeing her improvement over time. “I so enjoy when I can see that I have got right what I had been doing wrong,” she says. 

Despite her young age, Yakcobi speaks with the discipline and focus of a seasoned competitor. Yet there is still a sense of excitement and disbelief when she talks about qualifying for nationals. 

For Yakcobi, the evolution from reluctant ballet student to national acrobatic dance competitor has happened quickly. Her first competitive season has taken her further than she expected, and with years of training still ahead of her, nationals may be just the beginning of what promises to be an exciting acrobatic dance career.