TEMPO DANCE FESTIVAL 2013
Tempo Dance festival is celebrating its ten year anniversary. As a part of the festival, local secondary schools dance programmes and studios get the chance to showcase their talents in Secondary Colours. TEARAWAY Maverick NATASHA THYNE talks to some of the groups involved.
Boyzdance2
Boyzdance2 has been involved in the festival since it started in 2003 and all look forward to being involved and performing. This year they will be performing a jazz item called Hey Pachucco. It was choreographed by their dance teacher Richie Cesan and is to a great piece of music from The Mask.
What was the inspiration for the dance?
We are all passionate hip hop dancers and Richie wants us to be more versatile, so he picked this, as it's a bit more traditional than the dances we normally do.
What’s your favourite part of the festival?
Being involved and meeting other dancers and of course Out Of The Box hip hop showcase, which a couple of us are in this year.
Who are your dance heroes?
IDENTITY Dance Crew.
Pointy Dog Dance Company
Pointy Dog Dance Company was chosen to dance in the festival after performing in YouDance (secondary schools dance festival). They will be performing a contemporary work called Collective Lungs choreographed by Liana Yew and Jessie McCall. They say they are really excited to be part of the show, having the opportunity to dance on a professional stage and getting to see what other dancers their age are doing. Answering the questions on behalf of the company are members Zoe Nicholson and Camille Hay.
What was the inspiration for the dance?
The inspiration for the dance was originally germ masks. They have become a bit of a fashion statement in China, and one of the choreographers had just been on a trip there. From this came the idea of contagions and protection from germs and sickness. We were also inspired by space and how it makes you feel.
What’s your favourite part of the festival?
Dancing on the stage and showing people what we do – and seeing how they react.
Who are your dance heroes?
Camille: Pina Bausch is definitely very inspiring to me as her dances have my favourite quality of strange beauty. A favourite is the work in which when a woman gets on a train with all her hair over her face and moves as a heavy machine or metal woman. It's different and it makes you want to watch and understand more.
Glenfield College Bollywood Troupe
Glenfield College Bollywood Troupe has 15 dancers aged 13 to 18. They will be performing a high-energy, cute and quirky Bollywood dance choreographed by teacher Brigitte Knight. Inspired by the Chinese Year of the Snake, they combine traditional Bollywood themes with modern choreography using stunts, all set to a fusion of Hindi and English pop songs. Troupe dancers Danielle Anderson, 18, Anwell Siena, 15, Christian Herrera, 14, Tamzin Naicker, 17, answer the questions below.
What made you want to get involved in the Tempo dance festival?
Danielle: I wanted to be involved because I performed in it last year and it was such a great experience. It’s a nice way to share the Bollywood culture with a wider audience.
Anwell: Because I can’t wait for a new experience.
Chrisitan: It will be a great dance experience since this is my first year in the troupe.
Tamzin: Selected schools were chosen from the YouDance Festival earlier in the year, and we were really hoping to be chosen again.
Who are your dance heroes?
Danielle: My dance heroes would be the senior dancers who have gone before me through the troupe, as I started when I was Year 10. Straight away I had the seniors to look up to. Now I aspire to be like them to the juniors below me.
Anwell: Before I got into college, the Bollywood troupe had a show at my Intermediate and I quite liked it, because I could imagine myself in that position, sharing cultures and dancing live in front of people. So when I got into college, I asked Regie (former student and Bollywood troupe member, now a full time contemporary dance student at Unitec) where I could find a dance family. Regie is one of my fellows dance friends and he taught me stuff while in dance class. He’s my dance hero because he encouraged me to try my best and he showed me the way of getting confidence.
Tamzin: Brigitte is quite an inspiration as choreographer and inspires us to perform our best and work our hardest. She pushes us so that we are always proud of our performances and of each other. She made me the dancer I am today and has taught me so much about myself and how I move. So I would say she is most definitely my dance hero.
Wasabi Dance Crew
Wasabi Dance Crew will be performing a contemporary hip hop piece called Wing$ – to a song by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis – choreographed by Carlene Newall. This is their second year performing in the festival. They wanted to perform a piece that would push them out of their comfort zones and experiment with a style. They are most looking forward to performing on stage and seeing their work come to life with the lighting, props, costume and sound.
What made you want to get involved in the Tempo dance festival?
We love the fun aspect of the festival and first got involved as a break from doing technically-focused hip hop competitions that had lots of artistic boundaries. We wanted to have more freedom in our performance and Tempo is perfect for being able to do that.
What was the inspiration for the dance?
This dance has a message about society’s obsession with consumerism and conformity and the negative effects these things can have on young people; such as when we buy clothes and sneakers just for the brands and labels.
Who are your dance heroes?
At this point in time, definitely NOT Miley Cyrus! We love choreographers like Chachi Gonzales and Hopskotch Dance Crew that think outside the box and come up with interesting, innovative and creative choreography.
Secondary Colours is on the 20th of October at 3.30 at the Q Theatre, Queen St, Auckland.