JUNIOR KING FERREIRA - UPLIFTING A YOUTH IN NEED THROUGH DANCE
Meet dance enthusiast Junior King Ferreira and feel inspired by how he is investing in his community.
Hailing from Gqeberha (Eastern Cape), Junior King Ferreira is a dancer and choreographer who is using movement to inspire change in those around him.
“I grew up in a small town called Uitenhage. In that area there were robberies, gangsterism and basically anything bad that you could think of was happening in my area, so it was a very difficult experience for me. Growing up I wanted to be a dancer, I always wanted to dance, I always wanted to be in the arts,” says Junior King.
Junior is a rising community leader that is committed to encouraging upliftment through dance. In 2019 he started two dance schools to nurture young talent by taking the youth off the streets and encouraging them to find positive activities to keep them occupied.
“The life we have in P.E.. for the youth culture especially, is very bad and challenging,” shares the dance enthusiast and founder of the P.E. Boys dance crew.
Junior credits his mother for all her support with his passion and encouraging him to form his own dance crew to help overcome his depression.
“For me, dancing has become the centre of my life, and the benefits that I get from dancing is basically everything around it. I travel the world, I meet new people. I get to see fresh faces, and I get to instill and inspire a whole new person to want to become a dancer and to want to become better than what they already are.”
The massively positive force that dance has had on Junior’s life, is what has moved him to share it with all around him.
Today his energetic and positive approach not only inspires his crew but the world over.
We meet fellow dance crew members Dillon Domingo and Jadrian Swartz who share their story and passion for the craft that they’ve started recording and sharing online.
“The reaction to our daily videos is totally insane. We’ve got people from all over the world watching our videos, from Spain, Portugal, The U.S.A, Brazil, Namibia. It’s all over. People love us and love our content.”
“There also aren’t many dancers that reach the views that we reach. We literally reach anything from 2 to 10 million views. For dancers to get to the same amount of views as a rap artist, is mind blowing,” shares Junior proudly.
The crew’s dance videos are inspired by trends in music, dance and culture both in Mzansi and abroad, and their ability to release consistently good videos has seen their loyal fan-base continue to grow.
“Pain is progress. For the kids out there, if you want to dance, if you want to rap, if you want to be an actor, there are going to be many, many people that tell you that it is not a career choice. That it’s a hobby, that you can’t, that you’re local and only people in America can do that… You should never listen to anybody telling you anything bad or anything opposite of what you’re trying to do! You need to keep pushing. Make a name for yourself. Be passionate about what you do because if you are not passionate about what you do, how do you expect anyone else to be passionate about what you do,” encourages Junior.
Junior King Ferreira reminds us that change takes time. Improving one’s circumstances requires consistent focus and hard work. We wish him well as he spreads his message around South Africa and the world.
