GIFT OF DANCE
Meet the
Gift of Dance team
Caitlin Philp
Studio Owner, Ballet & Modern Teacher
Caitlin is our studio owner and has been a teacher at Gift of Dance since 2019.
As of 2023 she has taken over the studio from its previous owner, Amanda Klotz who ran the studio for 15 years.
Caitlin Philp started ballet training at the age of 4 and modern dance training at the age of 5. She began her ballet training with Ilze Louw and joined Dianne Cheesman's Cape Junior Ballet Company in 2009. She completed her Royal Academy of Dance Advanced 2 examination with a Distinction in 2013 with Kim Day at Reddam House Dance Academy with additional training from Dianne Cheesman at UCT ballet school. Caitlin has trained in modern dance with Colleen Kitching for over 12 years, touring to the Grahamstown National Arts Festival for four different seasons. She matriculated from Herschel Girls High School in 2014 after which she spent 2014-2018 training as a full-time vocational ballet student under the instruction of Martin Schonberg.
Caitlin has performed in Cape Town City Ballet's productions of Sleeping Beauty and Coppelia, performances of 'Dancers love Dogs' and 'Dancers for Dancers', the National Dance Trust's production of 'A Spartacus of Africa' and Martin Schonberg and Adele Blanc's 'Archangel'. Through the University of Stellenbosch, she has qualified as a Pilates instructor and has been teaching Pilates since 2017. Additionally, she is a qualified PBT trainer. Caitlin is a registered RAD ballet teacher. A qualified AIDT advanced modern teacher. As well as an Acrobatic Arts teacher through Acrobatic Arts Inc.
Carlé Theron
Hip Hop & Modern Teacher
Carlé started dancing at the age of 4 at NYDC School Of Dance.
From a young age, Carlé competed at Eisteddfod Competitions, Move, Dance Star and several productions where she competed as a soloist and in groups.
She has been a student at Gift of Dance since 2017. In 2022 she joined the Senior Hip Hop crew, 'Elements', where she received her Western Province Colours and qualified for Protea Colours. Carlé has also completed her grade 9 DanceCor modern exam at Gift Of Dance. She is a dynamic and enthusiastic dancer with experience in the following genres : Modern , Jazz , Lyrical , Contemporary and Hip Hop.
Carlé has qualified & completed her recent Levels 1-3 AIDT Modern teachers degree.
Cassidy Bennett
Hip Hop Teacher
Cassidy Bennett, also known as Bgirl CJ, is a Hip-Hop dancer and choreographer with background experience in Ballet and Contemporary.
She has been dancing since the age of 6 years old and trained at Dance For All, The Eoan Group, and UCT school of dance.
Cassidy has performed in the Cape Town Carnival, choreographed and performed for High School Jam productions held at the Grand Arena and won the Cape Town Red Bull BC One Break-dancing competition in 2021. In 2022, she and her dance team won first place at the Hip-Hop Unite regional and national competition where they represented South Africa in Portugal and placed in the top 10 in the world. Cassidy has been coaching and choreographing for 6 years with Born Spartans Dance Arena, Original Bboy and Bgirl Foundation, Bonafide Dance Studio as well as XO Empire. In the last year she has been creating and organizing workshops at multiple studios, guest choreographing, coaching solo dancers, dancing and working under Basic Black and Rudi Smit.
We are thrilled to have such an exciting young teacher as our head Hip Hop teacher, bringing her expertise to our dancers!
Jaime Perestrelo
Tap Teacher
Jaime is a familiar face to the Gift Of Dance family.
Over the years with the studio, she has successfully completed a number of DanceCor Examinations in Modern, Hip Hop and Tap, participated in the TDA Eisteddfod of Performing Arts, and has had the privilege of performing at various events in Cape Town, which include the Showcase of Dance, and Dancers for Dancers held at the Artscape.
Additional performance highlights include Disneyland California and Hip Hop Unite in Prague,
where she obtained her Senior Protea Colours for Fitness and Hip Hop World Dance Championships.
Balancing her professional life & dance, she teaches the Tap classes at Gift Of Dance.
Jarryd Nicholson
Social Media Manager
Jarryd has been the admin guy at Gift Of Dance since 2020. Since joining the team, he has worn several hats as our “go to” guy for almost anything that is needed. From Covid19 Compliance officer duties, to hanging drapes for exams and helping with merchandise. He is always willing to help not only the teachers and parents, but also the students. Jarryd is an excellent asset to the team. Jarryd has also redesigned the Gift of Dance logo, now featuring one of our long standing students.
Jarryd has his own media business, Nicholson Media, which is our go to for all of our in house needs. From concerts, social media and more.
Since the beginning of 2026. Jarryd has stepped down from Head of Admin, and is now our Social Media Manager.
Kayla Jansen van Vuuren
Acro Teacher
Kayla is no stranger to Gift of Dance. She has been a modern dance student of ours for the past 9 years. As well as a ballet student for the past 4 years, continuing to dance with us to date. She has been doing acrobatics at various prestigious acrobatic schools since age 9 and has participated in many competitions both regionally and nationally.
In November 2024, she represented South Africa at the DanceStar World Dance Masters in Croatia for all her routines including her lyrical , contemporary and acrobatics solos.
She has completed her level 6 Acrobatics Arts exam and is working towards completing her exams in the years to come, making her our most advanced acro student to date.
Kayla has also completed her AIDT Elementary exam in 2024 achieving 86% and aims to complete her Advanced exam in 2026.
She will also be training to achieve her Acrobatic Arts teachers certification this year.
Malusi Simelane
Acro Teacher
Malusi is a very special former student of ours, who we are thrilled to have as a part of the Gift of Dance teaching faculty.
He matriculated as Head Boy from El Shaddai High School in 2023, achieving top marks in his graduating class.
He is now studying Physiotherapy at the University of the Western Cape.
Malusi has trained in hip-hop, modern dance, acrobatics and ballet over his many years as a Gift of Dance student.
He has been the recipient of many outstanding achievements awards an podium placements at competition such as Cape Town Eisteddfod, Hip Hop Unite Nationals,
DanceStar, Cape Dance Festival and more. He has sompleted is RAD intermediate ballet exam, his DanceCore level 10 hiphop exam and his DanceCor level 7 modern dance exam.
We are thrilled to have him on our staff as an acrobatics teacher. He will also be training to achieve her Acrobatic Arts teachers certification this year.
Nicola Steenkamp
Head of Admin
Nicola is a new addition to the Gift of Dance team. Ready to take on the admin role from Jarryd.
Starting in 2026, we look forward to the dynamic work style that she will bring to the role of Head of Admin. As a mother of 2 children,
she is ready to take on any challenge & assist as best as possible.
Nikita Latimer
Musical Theatre Teacher
Nikita Latimer is a recent graduate of LAMTA (the Luitingh Alexander Musical Theatre Academy),
where she completed three years of intensive professional training in singing, acting, and dance.
She is especially excited to be teaching at Gift of Dance, a space that played an important role in her own development, as she previously trained and danced with us.
Nikita has a genuine love for working with children and is passionate about nurturing young performers in a supportive and inspiring environment.
With her comprehensive musical theatre training and performance experience, she is well qualified to teach with confidence, creativity, and care.
Helping students build strong foundations while fostering a lasting love for the performing arts.
Shameelah Kinnear-Swartz
Hip Hop & Competition Teacher
Shameelah Kinnear - Swartz known to most as Shami Shamrock is a Cape Town-born professional & street dancer, creative, dance teacher and content creator.
She is one of the driving forces in the Popping Community in and around Cape Town and South Africa. She can be seen in the movies like HONEY 3, House Party 5, and Jiva on Netflix and has even choreographed for International commercials and music videos.
Dance Experience:
Shami has been doing Hip Hop, Popping & Locking Dance Styles for over a decade since she started her dance training in 2008. She was found mostly dabbling and experimenting with the styles she would see around her, on tv and in her environment influences such as waving and freestyle dance always seemed to spark her creativity. This was before she considered seriously starting professional training and studying the styles further in 2010. Shami began to receive guidance from older poppers across the globe after sharing her videos and eagerness to learn on her social media. From 2009 till 2010 Shami was part of a Popping Movement called Popkorn that shared information on Popping and training the dance style with younger and newer poppers in South Africa (Cape Town, JHB, PTA). Shami is one of only 2 poppers from South Africa to be trained by legendary POPPING PIONEER POPIN PETE (USA) coached by RENEGADE (KEVIE KEV, UK), as well as trained with Femme Fatale Popping Crew (USA).