Win Madame Zingara tickets!
Last week, Madame Zingara stage manager and aerial acrobat, Sam Kotze, popped in to chat to Jane about life as part of a travelling circus, how she perfects her routine and what people can expect from the After Forever Tour.
Sam, who is from the small Free State town of Welkom, started her cirque career at the tender age of four, after her ballet teacher felt her love for handstands and roly-polies rather than points and plies would be more suited to acrobatics. By age 11, she had won the title of SA acrobatic champion.
Amazingly, Sam managed to overcome severe scoliosis – which meant she was put in a back brace for 15 hours a day for three years when she was in high school. Despite this tough time in her life she didn’t stop perusing her dream of being on stage. Her perseverance paid off, and in 2000 she won third place in the Disco/Freestyle World Championship, hosted in Finland.
She has performed around the world, and during a stint on a cruise liner, she was introduced to aerial artistry. She was so smitten, she taught herself using videos off YouTube.
Sam is now mesmerising audiences at Madame Zingara with her incredible talent and is loving every moment. In the After Forever Tour, Sam performs a pole act, where the art of pole dancing is reimagined and taken to new heights, as well as an aerial duo. Both these performances showcase her incredible strength, poise and the undeniable discipline it has taken for her to reach this level of skill.
“No one has lived until they have experienced Madame Zingara,” she says.
For your chance to win four tickets to the Madame Zingara After Forever Tour, watch the above video clip and tell us where Sam does her pole act. Email your answer, your name, contact details and ID number to [email protected]. Please use 'Madame Zingara' as your subject line.
*Each ticket includes the 2.5 hour show, a welcome drink upon arrival and a delectable four course meal. Please note that additional drinks as well as gratuity are for your own account.