Dancer captures hearts of many
Weekend Argus - With his captivating stage presence and humbling personality off stage, six times Freestyle Dance League (FDL) champion Nic Matthee aka Nic Floorkiller has won the hearts of many.
With a grandfather who was a tap dancer, Matthee developed a passion for performing arts at a tender age. The fast moves, glitter outfits and the music all captivated him, influencing him to join a dance crew in 1998.
“I joined a small dance group called Instinct in Mitchells Plain. I wasn’t the best dancer at first, but one thing I can assure you, I did not give up until I become the best. One day I redeemed myself by going on stage, with my mother’s clothes, ripped it all off and danced my heart out. It worked like a bomb. Because after that, I became the front row dancer,’’ Matthee said.
While still mastering his art, Matthee entered several dance competitions that required him to have a costume and a theme. For his performances, he drew inspiration from his icon, Jim Carrey and performed The Mask, adding his own flavour and spice to his performance.
Matthee explained how he was the entertainer in class. His imitation of Jim Carrey, Fred Astaire, and Michael Jackson gained traction and slowly but surely people started to know who Nic Floorkiller was. However, with all this attention coming his way, he did not anticipate the challenges that he was about to encounter.
“Fast-forward to 2007, my mother was not happy with the path I was taking. She refused me my engagement and it became a daily issue; it is resulting in me not being welcomed back home.”
Matthee explained how he ended up sleeping in trains, next to the Castle of Good Hope, Sea Point and later at the fire station.
“I was just an evident wreck. I lost weight and had broken teeth due to an unhealthy diet I was on. Winters were the worst time due to the cold. Firefighters would usually come out and give me coffee with biscuits in the morning just to help me out because they knew I never smoked, and I didn’t do drugs.,’’ Matthee added.
Despite the obstacles, Matthee did not give up. He got employed as a security guard and from then onwards things started looking up.
“I still danced, but I did it part-time. In 2008 I entered the Born Reality competition and I got first place solo. That was when people recognised me as the Floorkiller and traction grew from there. I started putting myself back on stage more and more till I performed at the Delft Easter Festival. I did four performances for four days and the audience loved it. Soon after I started getting paid, I got my mojo back,” said Matthee.
While Matthee was still dancing, many unexpected doors opened for him.
After winning several contests and developing himself from the ground, Matthee decided to give back to the community by starting his youth development project, Nic Floorkiller Entertainment Projects – a community arts promotional project that aims to empower the you and mould them to be a success story within the community.
“Every time I performed at the events, I felt the need to help the kids one way or another. Because as a performer it felt wrong getting attention through these events while the kids I am performing for are in need. So I started the Nic Floorkiller Entertainment Projects to help talented children in our communities off the streets and assist in unlocking their potential in dance and theatre, aiming to get some exposure at events and festivals.
“My plan is to take young talented children and shape them to become performers by heart. I’m planning to have them perform at the Steinthal Children’s Home in Tulbagh just outside Paarl. this will include myself and a lot of professionals performers such as Shamieg George and the Devolution dance crew. I’ve been chatting to some of the performers and ex-members of the children’s home. My aim is to have different organisations involved such as the Belhar neighbourhood development forum.”
Patrick Lategan, who is also a dancer, mentioned how his life changed after meeting Matthee.
“Nic took me under his wing, and shaped me to the person I am today” said Lategan.
Matthee also collaborates with other youth organisations and cultural programmes to uplift the children in the communities and assists in distributing food parcels.
Weekend Argus
Sat, 03 Apr 2021 10:41:31 GMTMurphy Nganga
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