Summer Dance Classes at QUT

Update August 2009

To all who came and supported us in the Tribute Performance to Yvonne Daunt ... thank you! It was a truly wonderful opportunity to create and perform a new dance work. Thank you Sybella for making such an afternoon a reality and for your incredible support to the Performing Arts industry. "Forgotten Interlude" was well received and Zaimon and I are gearing up to extend the piece slightly and perform it in Brisbane for Ausdance QLD's Bell Tower II series on the 5th of October, 2009.

So what am I doing now? Currently I'm in Adelaide working with Leigh Warren and Dancers and we're about to embark on a three week tour of "Seven" to Queanbeyan, Sydney and Wagga Wagga. For more information on Leigh Warren and Dancers and our performance schedule please go to http://lwd.com.au It's great to be back in a company environment for a while, working with some new people and tackling new challenges.

Tribute to Yvonne Daunt

Sybella Blencowe has decided to commission a short dance work in memory of her Aunt - the amazing pioneer of modern dance, Yvonne Daunt. This tribute provides the opportunity for young choreographers to create a work to showcase. The tribute performance will take place on July 5th 2009, in Adelaide. For more information please go to www.yvonnedaunt.webs.com
I am excited to be performing in this tribute performance alongside Zaimon Vilmanis ... thank you Sybella!

This Is How It's Done

Want to see what you can get up to if you start doing dance classes? Please check out "This Is How It's Done" by Mad Dance House at the Gardens Point Theatre, Brisbane, on May 16, 2009! Go to www.maddance.com.au for more details.

"Medico Manoeuvres"

Well I've just returned to Brisbane from a five week project - "Medico Manoeuvres" with Leigh Warren and Dancers in Adelaide, South Australia. This project was part of the Arts In Health programme at Flinders Medical Centre and involved dancing throughout different areas of the hospital, investigating the effects that dance can have on patients, staff and visitors. It was an amazing project to be involved in and one that I am so glad I was able to be a part of. Before commencing the project I must admit even I was sceptical about whether dance would have a huge impact on people residing within the hospital but now having seen the positive results with my own eyes I am greatly and pleasantly surprised.

So what exactly did we do?

With information gathered from a similar dance research project at Flinders Medical Centre last year, and in consultation with Sally - the Arts In Health Coordinator at the hospital, Leigh Warren in collaboration with the dancers, created some dances and structured improvisations to perform in different areas of the hospital. Sometimes we danced through the wards, sometimes in waiting rooms. Other times we danced in the cafeteria, or staff lunch room and even in the large outside courtyard. At times we surprised people and at other times the viewers knew we were coming.

What reactions to our dancing did we encounter?

Mostly we received positive reactions to our dancing. Patients eyes would light up and smiles moved across their faces even if at first they were unsure of how to react. Staff found themselves with something a little different to talk about and some would even start dancing themselves. Often tension within the space we were performing seemed to dissipate, leaving people more relaxed and ready to tackle the events of the day which lay ahead. Occasionally a patient would cry, quite simply because the dancing had helped them release emotions which they had been bottling up inside. Once in a while someone would pretend not to notice us/ignore us, but it seemed more often than not that they couldn't help themselves and by the end of us moving through the area where they were they were watching us with their full attention.

What did I learn?

I discovered just how powerful dance can be! And ... how much I love it because of that. To see, hear, and feel the positive impact it had on so many people in the hospital was truly magnificent. I felt I grew not only as a dancer but also as a person.

Happy New Year!

Who can believe it? 2009 is here already ... where did 2008 go?

This year may see some new dance shaping up in Australia with Natalie Weir becoming the new Artistic Director of Expressions Dance Company in Brisbane and Artistic Directorship of Sydney Dance Company being taken over by Rafael Bonachelo. No doubt these shifts in direction for both of those companies will be exciting for both the company members and for dance audiences and enthusiasts. It seems Dance North is also seeking a new Artistic Director after the resignation of Gavin Webber, but the decision has not yet been made on who it will be. Not only this but each New Year brings about new dance collectives and independant dance artists who also mark their own stamps on the dance scene.

I am looking forward to doing some projects this year with Leigh Warren and Dancers as well as a few of my own projects and hopefully some projects with or for some of my friends. It will be stimulating to work with new people and in different ways to that which I am used to. As my motto goes "What's life without a challenge to make it interesting?". I am certainly sure that I will encounter many challenges in the year ahead which I actually look forward to so that I can push myself to achieve more.

I wish everyone a Happy New Year - may 2009 bring with it everything that you dreamt of!