Dance at Newlands

This year we have seen our dance programme grow and expand in a big way. We love seeing so many students joining in and taking part, trying new things, sharing their skills and having fun. We have three main opportunities for dance at the moment; DanceED, Production Dance, and Dance Troupes and Crews.

DanceED is all new this year and we have over 45 students involved. Every Thursday afternoon we get together to work on our current topic. DanceED is open to everyone and we have such a great time exploring new ideas with our dance teacher Whaea Brie. So far this term we have learnt about viewing and analysing dance. We looked at the work of New Zealand Choreographers Loughlan Prior, Seidah Tuaoi, and Sarah Foster-Sproull. These choreographers have all used film to credit dances, so this became the inspiration for us to create our dance films. In groups we’ve choreographed and rehearsed our own dances and now we are starting to film them using local environments in and around our school and community. We’ve all learnt how to create and edit films in the digi room this term, so we’re putting our skills to good use. We can’t wait to get them finished and have our film screening.

Our Dance Troupes and Crews are another awesome way to be involved in dance. We had to audition for a place in one of the teams - these include hip hop, jazz, contemporary, lyrical and ballet. We were then placed into a fusion team. Fusion Teams are big dance numbers with 18 or more dancers in a couple of different styles. We work with Whaea Brie to choreograph our dance together combining our knowledge with hers to hopefully create something awesome. Our dance troupes and crews will represent our school at the DanceNZMade Wellington Interschool Regional Competition next term.