|
|
|
|
 |
|
| |
|
My introduction to dancing goes back as far as I can remember. My first dance experience was ballet at a young age of 5. That progressed to jazz and tap, which wasn't quiet me. So at the tender age of 11 I learnt to Greek dance! And what a difference this had on my life! My ethnicity quickly prevailed with the cultural and historical aspects having an instant attraction. I have been going strong ever since. Up until eleven years ago I taught Greek dancing for the Greek community two nights a week for five years. I had a regular group of 98 students ranging in ages from 4 to 36. During my time heading the Greek dance troupe I was involved in many exciting projects. Demonstrations for Friends of The Ballet, NZ Ballroom & Latin American Championships, Summer City Festivals, Ministerial gatherings at Parliament and Government House, and the odd competition to name but a few. Also included was an invitation by Brian Turner to teach and choreograph Greek dance numbers for two of his plays at the Stagecraft Theatre - The Seven Attack Thebes and Ephigenia. While on another similar occasion, this time for the Downstage Theatre's autobiography Tsigani (meaning Gypsies), I again taught and choreographed actors to dance Greek style. |
|
| A little over nine years ago a couple of my Greek dancing student’s introduced me to Ballroom and Latin American dancing. "You will be great,” they said, "dancing is so you" - So I attended classes and learnt to trip the light fantastic! Straight away I was hooked - line, sinker and all! I have kept up with this style ever since, and on the odd occasion entering a competition or two! But these days I enjoy the dance for what it is, attending social dances with Rodney and frequenting the local Ballroom competitions as a supporter. One particular point I would care to mention was the invaluable instruction I have gathered from the various dance teachers while learning this style. Having the opportunity to learn from visiting professionals and world champions has been nothing but inspiring, and something I still continue to do. These guys are a wealth of knowledge, and often have danced for many years at a professional level. If you have the opportunity to attend some form of education from them – go for it! |
|
| About five years ago I came into contact with Rodney via a Ballroom & Latin competition in Hawkes Bay. Actually he was competition with someone else at the time. Later after the competition had run its course for the day, a few of us dance groupies migrated to a local café to continue the madness. And this was where I had my first dance with Rodney – and apart from looking too thin he could actually dance! Further on down the track Rodney lost his Ballroom partner (with her moving out of town), and so we eventually began to frequent a few of the local Rock’n’Roll dances, and later moving onto Ballroom socials. Private Ballroom and Latin American lessons soon followed. Months later Rodney dropped an unexpected bombshell of a proposal. “How would you feel about entry into a Rock’n’Roll competition?” What he did not mention, that is until I’d already said yes, was the fact that it required a little travel! As in Coolangatta Australia! This was the annual Wintersun Festival celebrating all things good and nostalgic from the 1950’s and 1960’s – one component being a Rock’n’Roll dancing competition. |
|
| This was the start of something wonderful – well actually our first run wasn’t all that smooth. We entered three separate sections and only made one final – probably for the first time out we did all the wrong things – mistakes in the moves, each of us doing a different part of the routine together at the same time, and even forgetting some of the routine! But as it turned out, the one category in which we did make the final we ended up winning! So my first Rock’n’Roll competition was a mixed bag – but certainly enough to keep us coming back for more. As we have returned to the Wintersun Festival every year since – some years we’re averaged 2.5 trips across the ditch. That was six years ago, and many, many competitions later! |
|
| Now this was a period where travelling for competitions prevailed. Accumulating a wealth of experience and meeting many fabulous people along the way. It was about our second trip to the Land of Oz that we’re introduced to swing dancing - more specifically, the Lindy Hop. Friends from a local Rock’n’Roll club taught us the basic lindy circle and a few steps, including an around the world Charleston – whoa all those kicks and turns! It was all exciting stuff for us fish out of water. We’d seen a little of the Lindy Hop before and heard about a worldwide revival of swing dancing. Plus the talk of the town back in NZ (at the time) was what’s all this swing stuff about? You know in the early days of a fade where a few are in the know, but not necessarily telling everybody else about it! |
|
| It seems a lot of the Australian Rock’n’Roller’s had been dancing the various Swing styles for quite some time. So after that we invested in a few instructional swing videos from the States - some of which happened to be the Frankie Manning Savoy Style Swing - aka the Lindy Hop. Now this was good stuff, here was this amazing 87 year old teaching us how to swing! Fantastic! Another few months down the track and we were winging our way to Adelaide to attend a Frankie Manning workshop. Whoa! To say we were blown away was an understatement! We later found out after a brief chat with Frankie, that his last visit to New Zealand was 1938! Then the idea, in four words – Frankie, New Zealand, workshop! And so in February of 2002, so it became. Soon afterward we’re travelling the country promoting swing through Lindy (and the odd Rock’n’Roll) workshops, and by July of 2002 FEET with Heat 4dance had opened its doors for business. |
|
|
|
|
