Stage set for feast of dance
Academy ready for ‘Elements of Dance’
ELLEN Bunting may have hung up her tap shoes and retired, but Port Elizabeth’s Ellen Bunting Dance Academy is jiving into the future under the direction of new principal Simone Buchner, whose show Elements of Dance opens at the PE Opera House this week.
Director and producer Buchner has incorporated a wide range of disciplines in the academy’s show Elements of Dance, ranging from modern and tap all the way through to lyrical and Broadway jazz.
She says it will feature a kaleidoscope of numbers with tap-dancing children to Broadway jazz and even a Greek-inspired twist to a tap number.
Elements of Dance will be at the Opera House this Friday and Saturday at 7.30pm, with a matinee on Saturday at 2.30pm.
“Going into this show, I knew I had huge shoes to fill as Ellen staged many brilliant productions in Port Elizabeth and was a household name for close on 30 years,” said Buchner of the former studio owner.
“I owe so much to her. She’s been my teacher, my confidant and an unwavering pillar of support in every aspect of my life and dance career.”
Buchner said the colourful costumes were chosen to match the dance pieces.
“Jailhouse Rock for example, which is a junior modern number, has dancers wearing prisoner outfits with a little something extra that makes the number such fun!
“My favourite costume in the show is worn by my junior tappers in On Broadway. This costume with its cute bowtie, sparkly hat and feathers, as well as the dance, I’m sure will be enjoyed by the audience.”
In addition to the juniors, Buchner also has a group of 10 “senior” tap dancers aged between 17 and 78 who will be performing a five-minute number.
There are also three sets of moms and daughters in the show, as well as a mom and son. Kim Scribante and her daughter Sienna, for example, will perform a tap duet to Meghan Trainors’s Mom, choreographed by Kim.
Ariana Patsalos, last year’s Port Elizabeth Dance Festival (PEDF) Senior Tap Championship winner, will perform one of her championship solos You Can't Touch This, as well as her new solo Fiercely Tap.
The show is 90 minutes long and tickets are R120 a person, at Computicket.