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New Zealand Dance News – January 2019

Olivia Moore and Calum Gray in 'Concerto' at NZSD's 50th Anniversary Gala. Photo by Stephen A'Court.
Olivia Moore and Calum Gray in 'Concerto' at NZSD's 50th Anniversary Gala. Photo by Stephen A'Court.

Find out what’s happening this month in New Zealand dance news!

Daniel Belton and Good Company Arts have been awarded the Sino x Niio Illumination Art Prize 2018/19 in Hong Kong for the work, OneOne. The art competition brought together artworks from across the globe, in all styles and concepts. Belton and Good Company Arts, a contemporary dance and film company, received the award for the competition’s Category 1 Theme: Artistic Blessing – Festive, Celebration for Christmas. “The source of the inspiration for the work is New Zealand landscape,” Belton says of OneOne. “OneOne explores human existence as part of eternal cycles. It suggests ritual where echoes of the past resonate in a universal view of the present.” For more information on Good Company Arts, visit www.goodcompanyarts.com.

Lucy Marinkovich.

Lucy Marinkovich.

New Zealand Choreographer Lucy Marinkovich is a recipient of the Harriet Friedlander New York Residency, one of New Zealand’s most coveted international residencies. She, alongside her husband, composer Lucien Johnson, will head to New York with $100,000. Marinkovich is a former member of Footnote Dance Company, a guest artist with the New Zealand Dance Company and is creative director of the Borderline Arts Ensemble. Of the residency, she says, “We are beyond excited for the unknown of what our time in New York, a dream machine, will hold for us – rich as it is in its myths of transformation, challenge and opportunity.” For more on Marinkovich, head to www.thearts.co.nz/artists/lucy-marinkovich.

Teagan Tank.

Teagan Tank.

The Royal New Zealand Ballet (RNZB) has announced Teagan Tank as the Todd Scholar for 2019. This annual award secures a place for a New Zealand School of Dance (NZSD) graduate to join RNZB for one year. RNZB Artistic Director Patricia Barker says, “As the Todd Scholar, Teagan’s talents, beauty and grace are a testament to her hard work. Teagan is a welcomed addition to the Royal New Zealand Ballet, and I look forward to guiding her talents and watching her grow as a performer and artist.”

2019 also sees the launch of RNZB’s apprentice programme, as part of its commitment to providing pathways for young dancers to establish their professional ballet careers. NZSD graduates Cadence Barrack, Vincent Fraola and Calum Gray, along with Australian Ballet School graduates Ella Chambers and Joaquin Thomas-Mourad will join RNZB as apprentices in 2019.

NZDC Youth Summer School.The New Zealand Dance Company (NZDC) hosts its 2019 Youth Nelson Summer School this month, from Monday 14 – Friday 18 January. The week-long summer school will challenge technical and creative potential through daily classes in contemporary, ballet, choreography and NZDC repertoire. Students will be mentored by professional NZDC dancers, and a showing will be held at 4:30pm on Friday 18 January. For more information and to register, visit www.nzdc.org.nz/node/seasonal-schools.

Dance Aoteraoa New Zealand (DANZ) and Saint Kentigern College have announced Caitlin Davey as the 2019 DANZ Dance Residency recipient. Supported by DANZ and Saint Kentigern College, and with funding from Foundation North, Davey will undertake the dance residency based at the Auckland-based college over three weeks in January. This residency is an opportunity for artists like Davey to explore their practice and generate choreographic ideas and processes in a supported environment.

Davey is a 2015 graduate of the Unitec Performing Screen and Arts programme, majoring in contemporary dance. She has worked with artists such as Lemi Ponifasio, Malia Johnston, Sarah Foster-Sproull, Charles Koroneho and Claire O’Neil. “I’m really excited and grateful to be the recipient of this residency,” she says. “I will be developing a dance theatre work called About Others, which I have been researching over the last six months thanks to the Basement Theatre’s Ideas in Residence programme. I can’t wait to get to the studio and take action.”

By Laura Di Orio of Dance Informa.

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