Whitireia Commercial Dance Showcase 2016
Whitireia Performance Centre, 25-27 Vivian Street, Wellington
02/09/2016 - 04/09/2016
Production Details
The Year 1 Commercial dancers have put together a fabulously entertaining showcase that you will not want to miss! Filled with Jazz, Hip Hop, Ballet, Contemporary and Tap. This family friendly show is bursting with variety and talent.
Featuring works choreographed by Ange McKellar, Anne Anderson, Leigh Evans, Emma Martin, Brianna Coughlin, Abbie Gale, Charis O’Connor, and students’ own choreography.
Fri 2nd and Sat 3rd at 7pm, Sun 4th at 4pm
Tickets $20/$14/$10
Bookinga at http://www.thetheatre.co.nz
Programme Order:
Item Cast Choreographer
1. Be Italian Hannah, Summer, Nikita, Alex, Emma.C, Annalise, Ange
Ricki-Jane, Dionesia, Emily, Jasmine, Piimio, Emma.T,
Chelsea
2. At Last Emma Clavis Emma C
3. Wicked Dionesia, Emily, Emma.T, Hannah, Alex, Chelsea, Shae Brianna
4. Nowadays/Hot Honey Rag Jasmine, Ricki Jane, Annalise, Summer, Nikita Ange
5. Mothers Eyes Shae Shae
6. Swan Lake Audition Hannah, Summer, Nikita, Alex, Emma.C, Annalise, Anne
Ricki-Jane, Dionesia, Emily, Jasmine, Piimio, Emma.T,
Chelsea, Shae
Black Swan solo Emma Thompson
Grey Swan solo Piimio
7. Creep Emily Jepson Emily J
8. Chills Hannah, Summer, Nikita, Alex, Emma.C, Annalise, Esther
Ricki-Jane, Dionesia, Emily, Jasmine, Piimio, Emma.T,
Chelsea
9. Rhythm Nation Nikita - Hannah, Summer, Nikita, Alex, Emma.C, Ange
Ricki-Jane, Dionesia, Jasmine, Piimio, Chelsea
10. River Won't Flow Hannah, Summer, Nikita, Alex, Emma.C,Annalise, Charis
Ricki-Jane, Dionesia, Emily, Jasmine, Piimio, Emma.T,
Chelsea
11. Tribal Hannah, Dionesia Ange
12. Famous Summer, Nikita, Alex, Emma.C, Annalise, Ricki-Jane, Emma Martin
Emily, Jasmine, Piimio, Emma.T, Chelsea
13. How You Like Me Now? Hannah, Summer, Nikita, Annalise, Ricki-Jane, Dionesia, Abbie
Emily, Jasmine,
14. To Build a Home Emma and Shae Emma and Shae
15. Run Hannah, Summer, Nikita, Alex, Emma.C, Annalise, Leigh
Ricki-Jane, Dionesia, Emily, Jasmine, Piimio, Emma.T,
Chelsea
16. Controlla Hannah, Summer, Nikita, Alex, Emma.C, Annalise, Brianna
Ricki-Jane, Dionesia, Emily, Jasmine, Piimio, Emma.T,
Chelsea, Shae
Dance , Commercial dance ,
From dramatic cabaret to vaudeville style comedy
Review by Tania Kopytko 03rd Sep 2016
The impact is there from the opening minute of the Variety Showcase – with a dramatic cabaret Style “Be Italian” number, costumed in classic red dresses, heels and with chairs as props.
This is the graduation performance for the Year One Commercial Dance programme at Whitireia Performance Centre. These young students have to pack in a lot of training and polishing in one or two years, to prepare for a commercial dance sector that is highly competitive and requires precision, timing, strong technique and focus, skill in a variety of dance styles plus acting and singing skills. The Showcase demonstrates that they have all worked incredibly hard on these essentials. The fourteen dancers clearly love every minute of their performances and a very vocal audience are with them all the way, unlike a more restrained ballet or contemporary dance audience.
The hour long programme of sixteen items is a mix of tutor and student choreography. All is slick, smart, confident, non-stop and high energy and demonstrates that the cadre has the required skills in tight ensemble work and excellent timing. As befits the commercial sector, the programme covers a variety of dance styles: contemporary jazz often with a hip hop feel, tap and rhythm, old school Charleston and classic cabaret, lyrical and more aggressive hip hop and a vaudeville-type comedic poke at ballet. The latter allows acting skills to come to the fore as the ballerinas compete for attention, but the dance shows a weaker ballet technique. Developing softness in the arms and hands and more expressive plasticity in the upper body would be one area that many of the dancers could work on, as well as more varied, softer facial expressions, to balance a frequent pouty look that only suits some dance styles. This would add to the repertoire of expressive skills needed in the range of work they might encounter.
What will these young people do with this training? Many will continue to complete the second year and achieve the Diploma, though they can leave with a Certificate at the end of year one. Hopefully some will get overseas work in as performers on cruise ships, or in shows like Stomp or Cirque de Soleil. With the popularity of these styles nurtured in the hundreds of dance studios across New Zealand, it would be lovely to see some of these young people form small performance groups, perhaps reaching out to the regional areas they hail from. There is a market out there, as this is part of a well-established New Zealand private dance studio sector. Performance may not be full time or hugely financially viable, but it would give them more performance and choreographic experience and allow them to develop business and management skills that would add to their skill portfolio. Sadly commercial dance is not such a strong employment area in New Zealand, particularly because we do not have the professional (with paid dancers) musical theatre scene found in other countries. I hope most, with further dance teacher and business training, will eventually become dance teachers in studios, for community recreation, or in our schools and thus pass on their skills and enthusiasm to the young. The desire to learn dance never stops growing.
Hearty congratulations to all the performers and their tutors. The Showcase continues on Saturday evening (3 Sept) at 7pm and Sunday 4th at 4pm and is well worth going to.
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