By Ororiseng Kabelo
The self-taught American singer-songwriter, BB King, once said: “The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.”
Cameron Edwards, affectionately known as Cam, attests to this. As a self-taught, multi-award-winning hip hop dancer and aspiring professional choreographer, he is striving to make a difference in the lives of local youth through dance.
Born in Queenstown in 2001, he was raised in Makhanda by his single mother with the help of his aunts and uncles. Growing up alongside his older siblings, he became exposed to dance through the dance movies they used to watch, such as You Got Served and the Step Up franchise, during movie night.
As he grew older, he drew inspiration from Michael Jackson concerts and shows like South Africa’s Got Talent. Although he was academically strong in school, all he ever saw himself doing was dancing despite the challenges that arose. He realised, for instance, that he did not have the necessary support, such as a local dance school, but that did not stop him from growing his “dance vocabulary”. His first time dancing on stage came with Grahamstown’s Got Talent. Dancing with other students around his age, experiencing their good sportsmanship and willingness to teach each other, inspired Edwards to set his heart on being a professional choreographer. But his mother wanted him to further his studies.
In 2020, he arrived at Rhodes University to study education — and to dance. But options were limited to ballroom and Latin, not hip hop. Following the pandemic, he took a leap of faith and pitched the idea of him coaching hip hop. With no license to teach, Edwards agreed to do it without pay.
From just one student to start with, the class grew. Stronger dancers led the coaching for some practices, providing them space to grow as more than just dancers and Edwards the opportunity to learn from them.
“Sometimes I would leave a gap in the choreo,” he said. This allowed the other dancers to freestyle. “Then we’d all decide what we’re [going to]take.” The person whose freestyle was preferred by all members then taught it to the class, making for a collaborative effort and learning.
Before leaving Rhodes University with a degree in education, graduating in April 2025, Edwards won numerous awards during competitions, was awarded the Student Coach of the Year Award twice in a row, and, alongside the rest of the Dance Sport team, won Performance of the Year during the 2024 University Sports South Africa (USSA) Dancesport competition.
“What I love the most is to see the dancers flourish. When I say flourish, I mean even going past me, like they break ceilings that I didn’t get to break,” Edwards said.
Now teaching at a local primary school, his lifelong dream of being a choreographer is officially in motion. His dance studio opened last month. Just as before, he has started with one dancer — the same one who responded to the leap of hip hop faith on campus.
Through this studio, he hopes to “keep kids off the street”. He aims to give young dancers something to do after school while simultaneously giving them opportunities he never had. “I know there are kids out there who have the same dream, the same passions, the same vision. There’s just no platform for them to enhance their skills or for them to come and take this thing seriously,” he said. In the next five years, he hopes to have branded himself and sent several dancers to numerous competitions.
