Biography

 

of

 

Chanelle Alicia Natasha Cominetti

 

Chanelle was born in Blantyre, Malawi in 1989, and moved to South Africa at the age of 5 months where she has lived ever since. My most prominent memory of her is of her being a very sweet, but extremely active child.  My dad (her grandad) would often ask her to sit still for just 5 minutes and she would say “Grandpa I can’t my legs want to keep moving”. 

 

Later on in life she would tell me that whenever she heard music something would bubble up inside of her and she just had to start moving.

 

She LOVED to sing, dance and act.  She was forever kidnapping her little sister to the bedroom where they would plan a “concert” for the family.  It always involved singing and dancing.  The most notable one was to “Mumbo No, 5” in their “Spice Girl” shoes.  It was totally hilarious but we never forgot it.

 

Chanelle started Cecchetti ballet lessons at a very early age at the “Robyn Glen Dance Academy” where she excelled and danced for many years. During this time she performed at many concerts and loved the stage.  She continued with her dance all the way through school and also loved choreography - coming second in a competition.

 

Chanelle studied under Lynne Cusack of “Benoni Dance Studio” where she also took part in numerous stage concerts.

 

Chanelle was very accomplished at Irish Dance and won many competitions, including performing in Durban at the National Championships and came 4th overall in South Africa literally a few months after she started Irish dancing.

 

Once she started school we discovered that not only was she extremely creative but also excelled at academics and athletics.  She loved to run despite having severe asthma as a child and won many, many races throughout her primary career.  She also broke records for high jump and was awarded provincial colours for the high jump. She became a member of USSASA for high jump, long jump and shotput.

 

When she left school she studied International Hotel Management and thereafter studied Advanced Events Management but her first love was always dance. She started ballet dancing again recently and truly loved it.

 

Sadly, Chanelle passed away on the 08 April 2017 one week before her 28th birthday after being involved in a car accident.  As her mother the only way I can honour her spirit and ‘joi de vivre’ is by carrying on with her legacy as she made a great impact on many people’s lives and I know if she had survived she would definitely have left a large footprint on this earth.

 

 

Whatever you do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius and power and magic in it.” 

— Goethe