July 19, 2011
Peter Cleave reports that Connect: Wellington Dance Festival was launched on 13 July 2011, with pre-show drinks, speeches and dancing. The new Festival replaces Dance Your Socks off .
On July 13th 2011 a sea change in Wellington Dance was announced. Dance your socks off is off and there is a new festival planned.
Connect: Wellington Dance Festival 2012 is the name of the new event.
At the launch, there were two events rolled into one: the pre-show drinks at Circa and the show itself at Soundings, just a stroll away at Te Papa. Two tasters really because the show itself was a harbinger of the festival in Wellington next year. The pre-show cocktail hour worked as an introduction for people who might have been working alone in their attics and cribs and now had the chance to laugh and communicate in a friendly and urbane environment at Circa.
Then we all stepped out into the cold Wellington wind and drifted over to Soundings for speeches and dance excerpts.
Everyone was there including the Mayor of Wellington, Celia Wade Brown. There was a strong Council input. Ray Ahipene Mercer the coucillor in charge of culture started matters and Celia finished them.
In some respects Connect: Wellington Dance Festival 2012 is a new event and in others it is not. The survivors from the Dance your socks off days include Jenny Stevenson who has put so much into dance in Wellington over the years and is producing things so far for the 2012 event.
Other survivors who keep growing as things around them change are Merenia Gray and Tanemahuta Gray. These two made statements that seem enduring from from old work. The MC made a wise comment when he mentioned that all was unvoiced except for Tanemahuta’s except from the show, Maui. This was a tauparapara of sorts, brlliantly executed and well chosen for the event because it took the chanting process that people use before they get around to speaking and improvised with it as a piece on its own. Tanemahuta wore an interesting mat skirt, like tapa. Merenia Gray’s except from Black Rain,< /span> was voiced as well in the sense that a bi-lingual poem by Hone Tuwhare was used.in the background to singular effect.
Whitireia Performing Arts started the tasting with a statement from Fame. JDK Dance Group and Seek Dance Crew showed the audience at Soundings that Hip Hop remains a staple part of the Wellington dance diet. They presented some interesting formation dancing and a great use of beatbox sound.
The Mudra Dance Company were well represented by two dancers. There too were the New Zealand School of Dance. They were followed in a solo performance by Anita Hutchins who won the New Zealand version of So you think you can dance several years ago. Jesse Scales and Jason Carter were outstanding in an interpretation of Mahler. They have a real chemistry and a perfect phyisical relation between themselves as dancers. Jason takes the physique of a rugby back into dance and it is to be hoped that he takes this to the world as well as Wellington in 2012. And that Jesse, with her sensitivity and physical grace, goes with him.
Other survivors still battling on as Dance your socks off morphs into Connect: Wellington Dance Festival 2012 are Bats Theatre, Young and Hungry Arts Trust and others. Josephine O’Sullivan from Playground has a Bats Background and seems set to contribute to Connect: Wellington Dance Festival 2012. Martyn Wood, Programme manager at Bats outlined the programme for 2012 as far as he could at this stage.
Wellington is an astonishing place for culture especially dance and the way Tania Kopytko from DANZ, Dance Aotearoa New Zealand and others set the scene showed this as did the Mayor’s address. The promises in the fresh approach will be realised in exciting and impressive ways.
SAMDOG, the design company have had the task of getting the first strokes of this new approach together. Sophie Wilton did the graphics with Frankie Rouse, Scott Hughes and the team beside her. SAMDOG has been an important galvaniser of the arts community as everyone gets behind Connect: Wellington Dance Festival 2012.
Behind Jenny Stevenson- the producer so far- the directors look skilled and competent. Linda Lim is there in strong support
At this stage things are still falling into place as far as sponsors are concerned. Bell Gully, the lawyers, have stepped up, there as always is the Wellington City Council and so are DANZ and SAMDOG. As we get closer to the event no doubt more sponsors will emerge.
There is a good mood about Connect: Wellington Dance Festival 2012 and you could feel this in the rock- solid support from Celia Wade Brown and Ray Ahipene Mercer at the beginning of the Soundings event and throughout.
Connect: Wellington Dance Festival 2012 is the name of the new event.
At the launch, there were two events rolled into one: the pre-show drinks at Circa and the show itself at Soundings, just a stroll away at Te Papa. Two tasters really because the show itself was a harbinger of the festival in Wellington next year. The pre-show cocktail hour worked as an introduction for people who might have been working alone in their attics and cribs and now had the chance to laugh and communicate in a friendly and urbane environment at Circa.
Then we all stepped out into the cold Wellington wind and drifted over to Soundings for speeches and dance excerpts.
Everyone was there including the Mayor of Wellington, Celia Wade Brown. There was a strong Council input. Ray Ahipene Mercer the coucillor in charge of culture started matters and Celia finished them.
In some respects Connect: Wellington Dance Festival 2012 is a new event and in others it is not. The survivors from the Dance your socks off days include Jenny Stevenson who has put so much into dance in Wellington over the years and is producing things so far for the 2012 event.
Other survivors who keep growing as things around them change are Merenia Gray and Tanemahuta Gray. These two made statements that seem enduring from from old work. The MC made a wise comment when he mentioned that all was unvoiced except for Tanemahuta’s except from the show, Maui. This was a tauparapara of sorts, brlliantly executed and well chosen for the event because it took the chanting process that people use before they get around to speaking and improvised with it as a piece on its own. Tanemahuta wore an interesting mat skirt, like tapa. Merenia Gray’s except from Black Rain,< /span> was voiced as well in the sense that a bi-lingual poem by Hone Tuwhare was used.in the background to singular effect.
Whitireia Performing Arts started the tasting with a statement from Fame. JDK Dance Group and Seek Dance Crew showed the audience at Soundings that Hip Hop remains a staple part of the Wellington dance diet. They presented some interesting formation dancing and a great use of beatbox sound.
The Mudra Dance Company were well represented by two dancers. There too were the New Zealand School of Dance. They were followed in a solo performance by Anita Hutchins who won the New Zealand version of So you think you can dance several years ago. Jesse Scales and Jason Carter were outstanding in an interpretation of Mahler. They have a real chemistry and a perfect phyisical relation between themselves as dancers. Jason takes the physique of a rugby back into dance and it is to be hoped that he takes this to the world as well as Wellington in 2012. And that Jesse, with her sensitivity and physical grace, goes with him.
Other survivors still battling on as Dance your socks off morphs into Connect: Wellington Dance Festival 2012 are Bats Theatre, Young and Hungry Arts Trust and others. Josephine O’Sullivan from Playground has a Bats Background and seems set to contribute to Connect: Wellington Dance Festival 2012. Martyn Wood, Programme manager at Bats outlined the programme for 2012 as far as he could at this stage.
Wellington is an astonishing place for culture especially dance and the way Tania Kopytko from DANZ, Dance Aotearoa New Zealand and others set the scene showed this as did the Mayor’s address. The promises in the fresh approach will be realised in exciting and impressive ways.
SAMDOG, the design company have had the task of getting the first strokes of this new approach together. Sophie Wilton did the graphics with Frankie Rouse, Scott Hughes and the team beside her. SAMDOG has been an important galvaniser of the arts community as everyone gets behind Connect: Wellington Dance Festival 2012.
Behind Jenny Stevenson- the producer so far- the directors look skilled and competent. Linda Lim is there in strong support
At this stage things are still falling into place as far as sponsors are concerned. Bell Gully, the lawyers, have stepped up, there as always is the Wellington City Council and so are DANZ and SAMDOG. As we get closer to the event no doubt more sponsors will emerge.
There is a good mood about Connect: Wellington Dance Festival 2012 and you could feel this in the rock- solid support from Celia Wade Brown and Ray Ahipene Mercer at the beginning of the Soundings event and throughout.
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