Dance News – Trips and Street Dance guest tutors

This term the year 12 Dance class have been developing their understanding of hip hop and street dance with their Dance teacher Sam Wood Rawnsley. The outcome of this learning will be a NCEA performance assessment. Unitec and WSCW Dance Alumni Taniora Motutere has returned to share his extensive movement knowledge and teach two short sequences of movement. Students have learnt some fundamentals of popping and hip hop choreography. We are also fortunate to have Sherrick Martin return again this year bringing his experience in hip hop, commercial and contemporary dance. He is currently working with this rōpū on Afro beats and Dancehall movements.

WSCW Dance students benefit from observing and working with professional artists based in TAPAC, our performing arts venue. Last week, Samoan choreographer Tupua Tigafua returned to TAPAC to rehearse his work ‘Shel We’ before it tours NZ and Australia. Year 11 and 13 Dance were invited to join Tupua and his 4 male dancers in one of their morning warm-ups. On Friday afternoon students from Waiorea and the Dance and Drama classes watched ‘Shel We’ – a “comedy tragedy” inspired by Shel Silverstein’s poems. Fa’afetai tele lava Tupua and Le Moana for sharing your work with us.

Dance students have attended two other shows this term! Year 11-13 were in awe of the incredible dancing, sound and lighting in Auckland Arts Festival international dance performance ‘Revisor’ at the Aotea Centre. Year 10-13 Dance students were particularly moved by ‘He Huia Kaimanawa’, a dance that explores the “resurfacing, reclaiming and honouring of te reo Māori.” Ngā mihi nui Bianca for visiting the Year 10 Dance class and talking about the dance before the trip.