BBC Documentaries

Oti Mabuse: My South Africa (2022x137)

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Everyone knows Oti Mabuse from the dance floor of Strictly, but hers has been a long journey to achieve dancing fame in the UK. It started in the townships of South Africa. In this documentary, Oti returns to her childhood home to revisit the people and places that inspired her to be the dancer and woman she is today. Oti left South Africa over ten years ago, and the country has changed radically since then. She starts back where her family lived: the township of Mabopane near Pretoria. Here, she goes back to her first school and first dance floor, and there are emotional reunions with her parents and with family and friends from her past. She tracks the journey her family have taken out of poverty and recounts the struggles for money, safety and recognition. Oti and her sisters sold flowers on the streets to pay for dance classes. Now she meets up with Aunt Johanna, who is still running the flower stall.