LAVITA is definitely taking the local dance scene to another level with the release of their debut album Standing in the Rain.

LaVita, an Italian word meaning life, is made up of Beverley Ntoyi and Paseka MacJay Mofokeng, pictured.

Standing in the Rain has refreshing songs that will get you dancing the minute you play any track. It is certainly one of the better dance music albums on offer at the moment.

"This is a fun and inspiring dance album. The songs explore issues of love and life in general. We talk about appreciating life as well as the good and bad things about it," Ntoyi says.

Mofokeng says they wanted to create something unique when they started the group and conceptualised the album.

"We know that people love dance music, especially when you fuse it with love songs. Though this is our first album we have been overwhelmed by the response we get from people, especially when we perform.

"They tell us that we have come up with something that they have been waiting for for a very long time," he says.

Ntoyi, a choreographer, was born in Diepkloof, Soweto, and raised in Pretoria. She started singing and dancing at a young age.

She says singing in her Sunday school classes helped shape her musical career.

"My teachers loved the way I sang and used to ask me to imitate popular artists. They actually called me Mariah Carey," she says.

Ntoyi says her musical career started when she met the late singer Zombo, who hooked her up with Junior Sokhela of Boom Shaka.

Mofokeng was born in the Free State but his family moved to Gauteng when he was young. He says he grew up listening to groups such as Stimela, Cool and the Gang, Steve Kekana and Stevie Wonder.

"I started playing at the Bassline as a professional guitarist and worked with the Vaal Sound gospel group as well as Evangelist Gospel," he says.

Mofokeng is also a pianist and songwriter and works for Cool Spot.

"Local artists must be supported," Mofokeng says.