Buckets, Books, Beans and Moving Bodies

Buckets, Books, Beans and Moving Bodies

The New Zealand School of Dance Choreographic Season titled ‘And Then it Moved’ introduces ten new choreographers who are bringing new works of contemporary dance to the stage.

Created by contemporary dance students in their third year of full-time study at the New Zealand School of Dance (NZSD), ‘And Then it Moved’ is the result of four intensive months of preparation. In addition to workshopping new dance pieces, the group of young choreographers have collaborated with professional musicians and technical students from Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School to make the show.

“Many of the students are using props to change the environment in unexpected ways,” explains artistic coordinator of the show, Victoria Colombus. “They are using everything from buckets to the beans from beanbags, to fans, lamps, mirrors and books to help form individual insular worlds. Some of these worlds are edgy and almost cult-like, while some are much more delicate and internal.”

For the first time, NZSD is breaking some of the traditional boundaries of performance by manipulating the environment, taking the audience on a journey that will move them both conceptually and physically.

“The students are creating completely new pieces that bring their passion, technique and talent to bear. In effect, the students are knocking on the door and we are asking the audience to open up and let them in,” said Victoria.

In another first, the choreographers are collaborating with live musicians. The musicians are not just onstage, but are contained within the choreography. Katie Rudd, one of the student choreographers, is working with Flo Wilson, a New Zealand School of Music student, to create the sound-scape for her piece.

“Flo is a vocal looper, which means she records herself singing live during the performance and then replays that, layering and layering different vocal rhythms and phrases,” said Katie. “She can be really reactive to what’s happening onstage and I’m really excited about having the music embody what’s physically happening live in the space.”

“Choreographic Season is an amazing opportunity for us to explore both our own individual movement vocabularies and things that are relevant to us as young people,” said Sarah Gatzonis, another student choreographer.

All the third year students involved in ‘And Then it Moved’ will take up secondments with professional companies during their final year of study. The companies include some of Australasia’s most impressive names in contemporary dance, including Sydney Dance Company, Expressions Dance Company, Australian Dance Theatre and Dancenorth in Australia, and New Zealand Dance Company, Footnote Dance, and Atamira in New Zealand.

In yet another innovation for the School, ‘And Then it Moved’ is one of the success stories of the new Boosted arts crowd funding website. As of Wednesday 17 April, $3,845 had been donated by 38 donors. For more information see http://www.boosted.org.nz/projects/choreographic-season-2013.

The New Zealand School of Dance has been invited to take ‘And Then it Moved’ to Auckland for Tempo Dance Festival and to The Body Festival in Christchurch.

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What: AND THEN IT MOVED: NZ School of Dance Choreographic Season 2013
When: 7.30pm, 15-25 May 2013, 2pm 18-19 & 25 May, no show 20 May
Where: Te Whaea Theatre, 11 Hutchison Road, Newtown, Wellington
Price: Ticket prices: $23 Adult, $17 Student/Senior, $12 Child under 12
Bookings: www.nzschoolofdance.ac.nz

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