Bianca Hyslop, principal dancer of Atamira Dance Company, has been awarded the esteemed Eileen May Norris Dance Scholarship. The scholarships are awarded to individuals between 18 and 25 years old who have demonstrated outstanding dance talent in New Zealand. 24-year-old Hyslop has been with Atamira Dance Company since 2009, when she undertook an internship in her third year at Unitec. Since graduating, she has travelled to the Festival of Pacific Arts in the Solomon Islands in 2012 and is now on tour in the United States with Atamira’s highly anticipated tour of the KAHA show to Hawaii, San Francisco and Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in Massachusetts.
Carnival Cruise Lines is holding auditions in Auckland for dancers on August 30, 10:00am. The auditions will be held at Apollo Theatre School, 12/75 Ellice Road, Wairau, North Shore. Technical exercises and contrasting combinations will be taught at the audition. Auditionees must be dressed in form fitting dance attire and bring along a headshot and resume. Dancers that also sing should prepare two vocal selections (accompanist will be provided).
Carnival also has positions for singers, musicians, technicians, youth staff and activities hosts and will be holding “invited calls” for these positions. Prior to Auckland, Carnival will hold auditions in Sydney for dancers and staff. For more information and to apply for invited calls visit Carnivalentertainment.com/aucklandauditions.
Third year students at the New Zealand School of Dance have created an innovative new contemporary dance show that has been invited to two different established festivals. And Then it Moved was performed at the NZSD Choreographic Season 2013 in Wellington in May, after four months of intensive preparation. The work, made under the direction of Artistic Coordinator Victoria Colombus, will be taken to the Tempo Dance Festival in Auckland and The Body Festival in Christchurch this October.
Camillo Baracco and Katie Rudd in the New Zealand School of Dance’s ‘And Then It Moved’. Photographed by Stephen A’Court
“Choreographic Season is an amazing opportunity for us to explore both our own individual movement vocabularies and things that are relevant to us as young people,” says third year student Sarah Gatzonis. All the third year students involved in And Then it Moved will take up secondments this year. They will spend time with professional companies including Sydney Dance Company, Expressions Dance Company, Australian Dance Theatre, Dancenorth, New Zealand Dance Company, Footnote Dance and Atamira.
Young New Zealand dancers will be spoilt for choice in January, with summer schools taking place across various genres in both the North and South Islands. Okareka Dance Company will run a summer school in Auckland from January 6-17 at Unitec Dance Studios. Classes will include contemporary technique, classical technique, partnering, improvisation and composition. During the same week, also in Auckland, Dance Masters International‘s annual summer seminar will take place, offering classes in classical, contemporary, repertoire, pointe, Pilates, stretch, floor barre and lectures. The same seminar will then run in Christchurch the following week. For more information on these summer schools, contact education@okareka.com and dancemasters.international@gmail.com.
Lemi Ponifasio. Photo by Christian Westerback.
Internationally recognised Samoan choreographer and director Lemi Ponifasio will undertake a three-month artistic residency at the National University of Samoa from August to October. The residency, a partnership established between Creative New Zealand and the university in 2006, offers New Zealand resident Pacific artists the opportunity to develop their potential, skills and practice. As part of his residency, Lemi will present a series of lectures and workshops to National University of Samoa students. He will also develop a dance and theatre programme at the university based on the work of his internationally acclaimed company MAU, and plans to continue supporting the programme after the residency. Lemi will also carry out research into future projects by MAU. Lemi is one of New Zealand’s most accomplished performing artists, and his innovative work has been presented at some of the most prestigious arts festivals around the world.
Photo (top): Bianca Hyslop. Courtesy of Elephant Publicity.
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