Behind the 2020 performance season

2020 is a year we will all remember, one that demanded an ability to adapt to rapid change, a willingness to do so and resilience to deal with an ever-present state of flux.

The staff and students of the New Zealand School of Dance often wondered if the year would end on such a positive note – with a performance season featuring two distinct programmes danced for a live audience: There & Then | Here & Now

The School’s annual end-of-year performance season has become a fixture of the New Zealand art’s calendar. Although this year’s performance will be staged in the studio where the students train, it packs no less of an impressive artistic punch.

The season opens on 18 November with Here & Now, the contemporary dance programme.

An eclectic and exting line-up of works have been created, staged and tirelessly rehearsed. Some of New Zealand’s finest choreographers have created works on the School’s contemporary dance students: Victoria Colombus (Co-Artistic Director of the New Zealand Dance Company)Holly Newsome (NZSD alumna and Artistic Director of Discotheque), Elijah Kennar (award-winning choreographer) and Daniel Jaber (NZSD tutor, previously with Australian Dance Theatre)

There & Then opens on Thursday 19 November, and runs alternately with Here & Now until Saturday 28 November. This classical ballet programme features the performance of La Sylphide, Act II.

Four of the NZSD ballet tutors, who were previously at the Royal New Zealand Ballet are not only coaching or staging the work, but also performing roles in La Sylphide, Act II: Turid Revfeim (soloist and ballet mistress); Nadine Tyson (company member); Qi Huan (principal artist); and Vivencio M. Samblaceno, Jr. (principal and soloist).

Qi Huan and Vivencio Samblaceno will be playing Madge,the village sorceress, whilst Turid Revfeim is performing the role of The Mother. Nadine is rehearsing the work alongside Turid and Qi. It has been been a gratifying and rewarding experience for both the tutors and the students.

We hope you enjoy this video we have put together of the preparations for the 2020 Season. It includes interviews with choreographers, students and tutors as well as behind-the-scenes footage of rehearsals.

To book your seat at one of this season’s performances, click here.