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Students in their third year of full-time study at the New Zealand School of Dance have toured a new contemporary dance show, to Wellington, Christchurch and Auckland in 2013.

On the strength of its premiere season in Wellington in May, the NZSD was invited to take the show, titled And Then it Moved, to Auckland for Tempo Dance Festival and to Christchurch for the Body Festival in October.

Created for NZSD Choreographic Season 2013, the show is the result of four intensive months of preparation. These first time choreographers, who also dance in the show, have worked with Artistic Coordinator Victoria Colombus to develop the piece into a highly engaging dance work.

“Choreographic Season is an amazing opportunity for us to explore both our own individual movement vocabularies and things that are relevant to us as young people,” said third year student Sarah Gatzonis.

Watch highlights from AND THEN IT MOVED

All the third year students involved in And Then it Moved have taken up secondments during their final year of study in 2013. They have spent time with professional companies that include Sydney Dance Company, Expressions Dance Company, Australian Dance Theatre and Dancenorth in Australia, and New Zealand Dance Company, Footnote Dance, and Atamira in New Zealand.

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Photo: Camillo Baracco and Katie Rudd in ‘And Then It Moved’, photographed by Stephen A’Court

New Zealand School of Dance students Law Lok Huen (Tirion) and Stefaan Morrow performed as guest artists at the Asian Grand Prix in Hong Kong in August.

They accompanied the School’s director Garry Trinder who is president of the jury for the competition and was formerly artistic director of the Hong Kong Ballet. Tirion was born in Hong Kong and won the Asian Grand Prix in 2012, so it was fitting that she return to the competition as a guest.

The two performed the duet First Light, choreographed by NZSD graduate and member of the Royal New Zealand Ballet Loughlan Prior, in the concluding gala of the competition.

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Photo: 2013 students Tirion Law and Stefaan Morrow in Loughlan Prior’s ‘First Light’, photographed by Alex Efimoff

New Zealand School of Dance Director, Garry Trinder has been appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2013, in recognition of his services to dance.

Garry trained at the Royal Ballet School, Rambert School of Ballet and Maurice Béjart’s MUDRA. His extensive career includes six years as artistic director of the Hong Kong Ballet and two years as director of dance at South Africa’s NAPAC Dance Company.

He has been associated with many international ballet competitions including the Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland, and the Youth America Grand Prix in New York City. Since 2011 he has assumed the role of President of the Jury for the Asian Grand Prix ballet competition in Hong Kong and has been an artistic adviser to West Australian Ballet.

Garry was appointed director of the New Zealand School of Dance in 1998, and has made an extremely valuable contribution to the school in his fifteen years at the School.

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Photo: Garry Trinder MNZM, photographed by Stephen A’Court

Two New Zealand School of Dance students joined staff and students from seventeen other professional ballet schools at the Assemblée Internationale 2013 in Toronto.

The festival, hosted by Canada’s National Ballet School in April 2013, was an intensive seven days of classes, performances, forums and professional development. NZSD students Jarrah McArthur and Tynan Wood performed Jeffrey Tan’s Facade at the festival.

“The choreographer Jeffrey Tan, from Singapore, came to New Zealand for two weeks to rehearse his pas de deux with us.” said Jarrah. “Jeffrey is a wonderful teacher. He introduced us to new techniques and ideas, taking our partnering skills to a new level.”

Other performances at the AI13 festival ranged from works representative of each school’s culture, to student-created choreography with performances of blended casts from the various schools.

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Photo: Jarrah McArthur and Tynan Wood in ‘Facade’, photographed by Stephen A’Court

Two of New Zealand’s finest dancers Ursula Robb and Nadine Tyson are teaching at the New Zealand School of Dance this year.

Ursula Robb spent more than a decade in Europe dancing with Rosas, Ultima Vez and Zoo. In 2011 she worked as rehearsal director with Paris Opera Ballet and danced with the New Zealand Dance Company in their first season.

Auckland dancer Nadine Tyson joined the Royal New Zealand Ballet in 1995. She danced many pivotal roles during nine years with the RNZB and has recently been invited by the company to teach.

Both are graduates of the New Zealand School of Dance and have returned to join the school’s faculty, teaching the current students in 2013.

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Photo: Nadine Tyson, photographed by Bill Cooper

Artistic director of Queensland Ballet Li Cunxin, visited the New Zealand School of Dance in September 2012.

Famous for his autobiography ‘Mao’s Last Dancer’, which became a feature film in 2009, Li was selected at the age of eleven to train at Beijing Dance Academy. He went on to dance as principal artist with Ben Stevenson’s Houston Ballet Company and The Australian Ballet, and worked as a stockbroker before his appointment as Artistic Director of Queensland Ballet.

While at the New Zealand School of Dance Li shared his expertise with the students, taking a class with the second and third year classical majors.

“Wow, was such a FANTASTIC experience! We have all been so fortunate to have had the chance to work with such a spectacular and knowledgeable person! It was a precious 90 min class.” said second year student Laura Jones after the class.

Earlier in the year the School hosted a visit by the Governor-General of Australia.

During her state visit to New Zealand in February 2012, the Governor General Ms Quentin Bryce AC CVO, was treated to a performance by NZSD students, many of whom are Australian, and a tour of the School’s facilities.

Photos: Li Cunxin with NZSD 2nd and 3rd year classical students. Ms Quentin Bryce AC CVO with NZSD students

The New Zealand School of Dance’s role in nurturing New Zealand’s young dance talent has been highlighted with the re-launch of two aspirational programmes for school-aged dancers.

The Associates and Scholars programmes have developed out of the Junior Associates and Regional Associates programmes run by the school since 2000.

The Associates programme identifies ballet and contemporary dance students aged 13 – 16 who have an aptitude for a career in performance. A tiered structure sees students progressing through the programme as Junior, Intermediate and Senior Associates with Senior Associates joining the full-time students for an immersion week.

The Scholars programme takes classical ballet students from the age of 10 through a series of levels. Class sizes are small and the ballet training is supported by allied subjects such as body conditioning.

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Photo: NZSD Associate, photographed by Stephen A’Court

Three ballet dancers studying at the New Zealand School of Dance have received prestigious scholarships to some of America’s foremost dance institutions.

Ruth Austin, Cauê Frias and Christopher Gerty, all eighteen years-old, have spent the northern hemisphere summer dancing at the School at Jacob’s Pillow (Massachusetts), Houston Ballet Academy and San Francisco Ballet School respectively. 

Recipients of similar scholarships in the past include former New Zealand School of Dance student James Wynn. Like Christopher Gerty, James also concluded his studies at San Francisco Ballet School before gaining a contract with Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet, where he became a soloist.

The New Zealand School of Dance has long-standing relationships with all three US institutions. The scholarships, which comprise generous provision for both tuition and accommodation, are an endorsement of their training and the talent these young dancers ably demonstrate.

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Photo: New Zealand School of Dance students Ruth Austin, Cauê Frias and Christopher Gerty. Photographed by Stephen A’Court.

Darcey Bussell CBE, former Principal dancer with The Royal Ballet, London visited the New Zealand School of Dance in June 2012.

Darcey Bussell was guest of honour at the fundraising event A Gala Dinner with Darcey Bussell and held a coaching session with New Zealand School of Dance students.

This once in a lifetime opportunity was presented by the Royal Academy of Dance and the New Zealand School of Dance. The gala dinner raised funds both for the RAD Genée International Ballet Competition (Wellington, December 2012) and the New Zealand School of Dance on its 45th anniversary in 2012.

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Photo: Darcey Bussell coaching New Zealand School of Dance student Laura Jones, photographed by Stephen A’Court

Former Paul Taylor Dance Company member Richard Chen See was guest tutor at the New Zealand School of Dance in 2009 and again in 2011.

Richard came from New York to teach Paul Taylor’s choreography for performance in the School’s Graduation Season. In 2009 Richard coached NZSD students in Taylor’s lyrical ballet Airs, and in 2011 his wartime themed Company B set to the songs of the Andrews Sisters.

“Taylor stands amongst the pantheon of American dance giants.” Dance Magazine (USA)

Richard Chen See danced for the Paul Taylor Dance Company for fifteen years (1993 – 2008). A Jamaican by birth, his early training was in ballet, modern and Afro-Caribbean folk forms. He began his professional career in 1978 dancing with companies such as Northern Ballet Theatre (England), Oakland Ballet (USA) and ODC/San Francisco (USA).

Richard Chen See’s 2011 visit to the New Zealand School of Dance was made possible with assistance from Fulbright New Zealand and the Embassy of the United States of America. During his time at the School an open rehearsal was held for the public and Richard was interviewed for Radio New Zealand.

Listen to the interview

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Photo: Richard Chen See teaching ‘Airs’ at NZSD in 2009, photographed by Stephen A’Court

See more images at radionz.co.nz