Pupils dancing to success
Audiences are being urged to get in quick to see the talent of local dancers at Whangamata¯ Dance Studio’s annual production Finding Mowgli.
Students aged 5 to 18 years sat 183 exams in August with genres including Jazz, Tap, Hip Hop and Contemporary.
Of those, 91 per cent of the students received Honours marks of 85 per cent or higher with three students — Evie Roberts, Danyelle Mitchell, and Olivia Tollemache nominated for the prestigious NZ Association of Modern Dance (NZAMD) Scholarship awards in Hip Hop.
“These are outstanding results given the difficulties that 2020 has brought so far,” says Jo Cullen, studio owner and teacher.
“Covid-19 restrictions meant that teachers and students had to get creative with delivering and learning their exam content.”
For eight weeks, lessons were taught in online classes via Zoom and pre-recorded videos on Youtube.
“Teachers filmed content in lounges, kitchens, garages, dining rooms — any available space — to prepare the students for these exams and students worked hard to learn and practice their syllabus in a challenging situation and environment.”
“I was very excited, it was really cool,” says Evie Roberts, of hearing about her selection for a scholarship.
She says despite the challenges of having to learn from a video only, there was
also an upside. “Being at home a lot during Covid gave us more time to practice it so we could go over it more.”
She would like to carry on with Whangamata¯ dance until her last year of school.
“I will see where it goes from there.”
The Dance Studio’s annual production, Finding Mowgli, is a take on the Jungle Book story, featuring all your favourite characters — with a few new ones thrown in.
Students have been
working hard since finishing their exams to learn and prepare dances and lines for the show, with Jo and her team spending hours choreographing dances, creating costumes and making the set.
There will be four performances this year on November 12 and 13 at 7pm, and Saturday November 14 at 1pm and 7pm.
Limited tickets for the performances are available now at Whanga Books and are selling fast.