Dance is alive and well in Auckland’s high schools, judging by the creativity, commitment and polished performance given to the 41 dances presented by teenagers in this year’s You Dance Festival. This was an opportunity to show the way their high school dance courses have been developing their abilities, and what they have learned about making dances of their own.

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Bringing together young dancers from schools and youth dance companies to perform is a joyous occasion. If you are looking for something to refresh your view of life in Aotearoa go and see YouDance tonight. It’s a completely different line up, but I’m guessing that the overall effect on viewers may well be similar to the first show.

Here’s the thing – there are 19 short works and reviewing them all could result in something that actually does the show less justice than it deserves. In writing an overall impression I hope to represent the way in which the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

There are works choreographed by secondary school students, their teachers, choreographers working in the community, and one that has resulted from a collaboration of students with tertiary dance students. All the works are danced by young people who have chosen dance as a recreational activity or to study dance at school, sometimes for NCEA Achievement Standards. Some dances have been assessed for NCEA.

In watching some pieces, it is clear that some of the dance teachers have technical proficiency of their own, and several large ensemble pieces provide a platform for young dancers to show their performance quality and skills. Other pieces tend to work within a lesser technical range but are equally expressive as the young choreographers put into practice the dance composition that they are studying. Some works have involved professional choreographers, and these provide a glimpse of what could lie ahead for dance students in their future careers.

What we see is mainly contemporary dance but there is some salsa and jazz. There is also an important sense of inclusion of different genders, abilities, levels of experience and learning needs. Themes are suitably younthful; bullying, social media, greed for wealth, judging others, commitment, and just the joy of moving as energetically and expressively as one can. These are also concerns that are shared by ‘grown ups’.

Government mandated the inaugural national dance curriculum in 2003. All schools, primary through to secondary, are expected to include dance., and now dance is one of the fastest growing subjects in the NCEA. Students study choreography, performance, dance analysis and socio-historical perspectives. They are assessed practically and in external written exams.

YouDance is the tip of the iceberg, but the performance could be recognised as a milestone marking the huge amount of work, care and intellect that dedicated teachers, tertiary staff, dancers in the community and others nationwide have invested over 10 years. This background helps to explain the substance and integrity that this show brings. The seriousness, discipline, teamwork, hours of work and commitment that the study of dance can involve can be easily overlooked.

For those who assume young people ‘these days’ are stuck behind computer screens or unfit layabouts, this show presents a more positive view of today’s teenagers, and demonstrates the benefits that studying dance can bring for the future of our young adults.

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