Wellington Dance Festival: June 2012

Wellington Dance Festival: June 2012

Wellington's newest festival, CONNECT: Wellington Dance Festival replaces Dance your Socks Off, the Wellington City Council-administered event which ran for many years.

The Producers are kicking off the Festival with a Launch at Te Papa's Soundings Theatre on July 14 this year, by the Mayor of Wellington, Celia Wade-Brown - where they will be announcing the Festival's programme of activities.

The Launch is open to everyone who loves dance. Entry is free and the programme will include performances by some of Wellington's top dancers. The event starts at 5.30pm and runs for an hour.

CONNECT: Wellington Dance Festival aims to connect the different sectors of the dance community in the Capital: the professional dancers and companies, the community-based dance organisations, the tertiary trainers of dance and the private dance studios.

The programme has many innovative events including a large community dance work, which will involve multiple dance groups and organisations. A 2-minute dance film competition will see the best entries screened at the Film Archive alongside works by New Zealand's pre-eminent dance film-makers.

Emerging and experimental dance artists will present their work in a two-week season at Wellington's Bats Theatre, while professional companies will perform at Wellington's Opera House, followed by a Cultural Dance Showcase and a Hip Hop Spektakula.

An Inter-Corporate Dance Competition will feature a Dance Off, where corporate and government department teams and couples will compete in various categories including Latin Dance, Cabaret and Hip Hop. Professional teachers will train the contestants intensively, leading up to the finals.

It is expected that a Director will be appointed later on this year to lead the Festival in 2012

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