In a dance studio in suburban east Johannesburg, the choreographer Lee-ché Janecke put a group of student cheerleaders through their steps. After five hours of everything from body rolls to voguing with pompoms and a classic cheerleading lift, the excited group gathered round Janecke to make a TikTok of one of the latest South African amapiano dance challenges. They were done in just two takes.
Janecke has been at the forefront of the growing global popularity of South African dance and music in the past few years. Having worked with Tyla since she was 17, he was responsible for the viral dance that accompanied Water, the breakout hit that propelled the now 23-year-old South African singer and songwriter to worldwide fame.
Janecke now wants to turn his own growing reputation into a global brand, moving beyond the South African music industry while still retaining the essence of his culture.
“When I speak about my life it makes me emotional to know this is where it’s come to, and that where it’s come to feels like a new start,” he said, after finishing the day’s rehearsal.
Janecke grew up in Bonteheuwel in Cape Town and then Eldorado Park in Johannesburg, both historically “Coloured” townships. He heard his grandpa playing Madonna and Michael Jackson, and would dance at family events. He initially planned to study accounting after school, but was unable to resist the pull of dance, in which he has never been formally trained.
By 2011, Janecke was exploring femininity in dance and accepted himself as gay. He co-founded V.I.N.T.A.G.E, South Africa’s first male dance crew focused on vogueing and whacking, styles that originated in New York’s ballroom scene in the late 1980s and 1990s.
The crew, which expanded to include women and a fashion stylist, participated in numerous televised dance competitions. However, it came second in all but the last one it entered, something Janecke blamed on South Africa not yet being ready for the openly LGBTQ+ dancers.
In 2013, the group was attacked at a minibus taxi rank as they travelled back from performing at Soweto Pride. A mob surrounded their taxi, yelling and rocking the vehicle from side to side, until the conductor finally persuaded them to disperse. “It gave: ‘Yeah girl, this is the end for you,’” recalled Janecke.
By 2015, V.I.N.T.A.G.E had disbanded, as Janecke started getting booked alone, choreographing the talent show Idols South Africa for six years. He was hired by Tyla’s first manager to train her. “I [felt]: ‘There’s something about this girl.’ I can see it in their eyes,” he said.
Fast-forward to 2025 and the rehearsal with the cheerleaders – two university squads opening a Red Bull half-court basketball tournament with numbers choreographed by Janecke – was just a few days after the MTV Video Music Awards. Tyla took home Best Afrobeats for Push2Start. The video was choreographed by Janecke, who was also nominated for best choreography.
This was the pinnacle of more than two years of working with Tyla internationally on everything from The Voice finale to the BET Awards and Coachella. Janecke also choreographed US and UK shows for the DJ Uncle Waffles and taught amapiano classes at Ailey Extension, the studio of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater company in New York, and at Playground in LA.
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“For me, the end of that chapter is the VMA nomination,” Janecke said. He was on set when he found out he had been nominated: “I immediately burst into tears. I was so emotional, I think I still get emotional, because … I sat up, 3am, to watch the VMAs live. I always knew that this is where my destiny lies.”
Janecke gesticulated as he spoke, getting up to demonstrate dance moves. “I have to take the right steps to continue expressing and getting this brand out there, away from the names attached to it.”
He listed his ambitions – getting a US agent, working with everyone from Dua Lipa and Doechii to Beyoncé and Madonna, and breaking into the K-pop market, advertising and musicals. He cited Robbie Blue, who choreographed Gap’s autumn 2025 advert with the girl band Katseye and won the 2025 choreography VMA for Doechii’s Anxiety video, as being at the level he believes he is capable of achieving.
Nonetheless, Janecke was emphatic he would keep working with Tyla: “That’s my girl for life … She’s very passionate about creating music and really changing the dynamic and the conversation of the world.”
While Janecke expressed frustration that South Africa lacked the intentional and seamless working environment of the US, he said he remained South African to his core. “My African dream got a dance done by the whole world … so, for me, Lee-ché’s dream is an African dream.”