For the love of dancing
Contemporary dancer and choreographer, Joash Tuugamusu, is one of the guest tutors at this year’s VAST Dance Festival, being held next Wednesday. Marking its fifth year, VAST is an annual celebration of secondary school dance which offers opportunities for schools in Nelson, Tasman, Marlborough and the West Coast to celebrate all forms of dance in education. It began in 2012 as a chance for students to showcase the work they had choreographed and performed.
This year seven schools will be participating, Motueka High, Waimea College, Garin College, Nayland College, Nelson College for Girls, Nelson College and Greymouth High. Schools get to submit three dances of any genre.
Students have revelled in the opportunity to perform on stage at the Theatre Royal in front of an audience under theatre lighting. Some of students will be on stage for the first time.
‘‘Students gain the confidence to perform in a public arena,’’ says head of music and performing arts at Waimea College, Melanie Stewart. ‘‘Many of the students participating do not have the opportunity to take dance outside of school so for some it will be their first time on a public stage. They also get to see what students at other schools are choreographing and add to their own repertoire of ideas.’’
During the day when students are in between rehearsals, they get the opportunity to attend workshops. One of the workshops is Contemporary Dance led by Tuugamusu of Black Grace Dance Company.
Tuusamusu is of Samoan decent and has been street dancing since he was 13. At the age of 18 he took on the Krump (Hip Hop) movement with Tight Eyez in workshops around the country. He gained a Certificate in Dance Performance at Pacific Institute if Performing Arts, then auditioned successfully for the Black Grace Dance Company. Tuugamusu made his company debut on the 2009 tour of Switzerland and Germany. Since then he has performed nationally and internationally including in Scotland, South Korea and North America. He is currently based in Wellington.
‘‘This workshop encourages the use of dance as a creative means of self-expression by fusing movement like Hip Hop (krump) with its personal style and expression together with contemporary floor work and patterns of movement creating movement that is unique which I call Modern Krump,’’ says Tuugamusu. ‘‘If you’re wanting to try something new then this is perfect for you.’’
Other workshops are Musical Theatre led by Okiwi Hawkins and Salsa led by Neil Robinson, both from Nelson. Hawkins is trained in all styles of dance receiving his Solo Seal Diploma and Teachers Certificate with NZAMB. He comes from a musical theatre background and has performed in Rent, Cats, Miss Saigon, High School Musical, Godspell, Oliver and Music Man. He is artistic director of Empire Dance Company in Nelson.
Robinson has been teaching adults to dance LA style salsa in Nelson for the past five years. His workshop will teach the basic rhythm and foot work for LA style salsa, including pointers on how to partner dance.