The legacy of late dancer and musician Dugulth “Junior King” Ferreira is still strong and was bolstered this week with the start of a series of free workshops across Nelson Mandela Bay to honour his memory.
Ferreira died in a car accident on December 11.
On Monday, Ferreira’s mother, Marian, together with her husband, Max, and daughter Laeeqa, as well as the musician’s closest collaborator, Kayla “Kay Medusa” Peters, held the first workshop for the year in Helenvale.
Hundreds of children arrived at the workshop ready to learn some new dance moves during the first class led by Peters.
Marian said that continuing these workshops was her way of honouring the work that Ferreira had done in the Bay for more than a decade.
“My son began dancing at the age of two.
“I had a restaurant and he would dance on the tables for everyone. He was born to be a star.”
She said he had seen how his dancing had changed his life and wanted to see more children be able to change theirs through dance.
“When he was 12 years old, I helped him start his own dance crew called PE’s Finest.
“I did the admin but he was the choreographer.
“As he grew up, the dancing just followed him.
“He moved to Johannesburg when he was 18 and made a big name for himself.”
Ferreira worked alongside some of the biggest names in South African music including AKA, Cassper Nyovest, Early B and Costa Titch.
He became known internationally as one of SA’s best dancers and had amassed more than four-million followers on social media before his untimely passing at the age of 29.
In 2019, he moved back to Nelson Mandela Bay and started the King Dance Studio where he taught hundreds of young dancers from the city.
In July 2025, a group of dancers from King Dance Studio travelled to Dubai to take part in the World Supremacy Battlegrounds Finals in Dubai and returned with a bronze medal.
Marian said Ferreira had a big passion for teaching the children who could not afford to join the King Dance Studio and loved to host free workshops for them.
“Junior had a huge love for children. In all of his videos, you can see that he was always teaching and working with children.
“This is why we have decided to keep the free workshops going in his memory.
“The kids from areas like Helenvale here, aren’t always able to come to workshops in other areas, so we have decided to bring the workshops to them.”
Marian said workshops were planned in Helenvale, Salsoneville, Schauderville and his hometown, Kariega.
“Junior would have turned 30 on March 1 so we have decided to continue these workshops as a tribute to him until his birthday.”
In an interview with The Herald in January 2020, Ferreira thanked his mother for her continued support throughout his career.
“My mother is the reason I am where I am. She has always supported me and I am forever thankful for that.
“When I was young I would dance at family functions with the encouragement of my mother.“
Ferreira said if he could inspire 100 children to dance in his lifetime he would be happy.
His mother laughed at that memory and said “he has inspired thousands of children to dance now”.
Peters was Ferreira’s partner in music and dance for the past two years and since his death has continued to perform their shows across SA, along with his sister and collaborator, Laeeqa.
“I was 13 when I became one of Junior’s dance students. He believed in me and that helped me believe in myself,” Peters said.
“If Junior hadn’t created these spaces for me, who knows what I would have gone into.
“Because he is not here anymore, I feel like his work has to continue.
“The vision he had is what matters and there is a lot of potential in our areas but there’s no opportunities being created so we have to keep going.
“That is Junior’s legacy.
“He believed in so many young talented dancers and he knew that dancing could save them from the tough circumstances they were in.
“This was his dream and since his passing, we have wanted to keep all of his projects going to honour him.”
Peters said she’d continued to perform some of the duo’s Cape Town tour shows in December, wrapping up with a big show in Despatch where all the dance school students and Ferreira’s family joined in.
Peters is planning to release her solo album in February — an album she worked on with Ferreira.
“You can hear his influence on my album.
“We wanted it to be an all-women project, so Junior is not on the album, but he was there to guide me throughout the process.”
Peters also teased at some possible music releases before the album.
Marian said the family had big plans for Ferreira’s 30th birthday celebrations in March, which would be announced in the next few weeks.
The Herald
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