Mooky King is gearing up to go to Greece in June for the gathering of top Les Mills instructors in the world. She has been chosen to represent South Africa.
But where did it all begin for this 39-year-old Pretorian mother of two?
Mooky says she was independent from a young age.
She went to St Anne’s Girls High School in Rustenburg for Grades to 5 to 10.
Then she went to UCT to study speech and drama, majoring with dance.
“On our third year, we did our practicals at e.tv’s kiddies programme called Crazy E. And I knew right then that TV presenting is not my thing. I love the performance. Just put me on stage and the real Mooky comes out. I was proud that I finished my studies.
Mooky’s father was a dance teacher, no wonder she started dancing at the age of seven years old.
“After UCT, I did jazz, contemporary and ballet in Joburg while staying with an uncle in Vosloorus. I always wanted to go the art way because it felt comfortable.”
Back in the day Mooky also used to be Lebo Mathosa’s back-up dancer.
While pregnant with her first born, she danced until the was seven months, and her pregnancy never showed. But her mother forced her to stop, and she did.
“After having the baby, I could not go back to ballet. So, I heard there were auditions at the State Theatre in Pretoria. We started with voluntary work. We have involved in behind the scenes work and an Indian man who owned that production paid us with expired grocery, but we were desperate. You just wanted an open door.”
And indeed, while at the State Theatre, a door opened.
“I got to know a gentleman called Enrico Maart. He owned a company called E Production. He taught modeling and drama. I ended up doing the lead role in a play. After being with the company for a while, I asked him to introduce dance. He agreed on one condition, that I would be in charge of the dance unit.”
Monnyth Art House
Mooky’s company – Monnyth Art House – was launched in 2007 with only three kids, charging them only R50 per month.
“And they brought their friends, and Monnyth stated to grow. And I was recognized within the State Theatre. We had 80 drama students, 30 dancers, 23 musicians. It was a fully-fledged company that had the head of departments, cleaners, and even parking guards. I ended up renting my own building in town, 391 Pretoria Street.”
Monnyth continued to run for eight years.
And everything started to slowly crumble when the fell pregnant with her second born.
“I could not be present in the company. People started coming up with their own ideas. I am a very hands-on person. But all my specialists cautioned me to slow down and take it easy. It was a tough pregnancy and I had to choose. My doctor was concerned about my heart rate. Monnyth was going down and it closed in 2011.”
After giving birth to Zoe, Enrico pushed me to join Planet Fitness as an instructor. I was still overweight and heavy from just giving birth but he literally threw me in the gym and he gave me a class to teach Lynnwood, Pretoria. That was the start of the fitness journey. I had to combine dance and fitness. I started teaching Shbam, Body Balance, and the came Grit. I am now going to do Combat exams on 23 March.”
Les Mills instructor
This year, it’s five years that Mooky has been with international fitness company Les Mills.
While involved in Les Mills, she was spotted by Reebok four year ago. She is a Reebok and Polar-sponsored athlete.
“Last year I walked on the ramp at the Reebok fashion show in Spain. It was a very exciting opportunity.
And now Mooky is getting ready to represent South Africa in Greece where Les Mills’ top instructors from across the world will convene.
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