Aerial Training- the dance team try something new!

On Tuesday 28th and Wednesday 29th, the dance team went to Creation Climbing Centre in Birmingham to train with Joe from circusMASH UK in aerial silks and lyra.

What a painful two days!

We had a great time learning new tricks and holds on both sets of equipment with each of us finding some easier than others..... One thing is evident, we need a lot more strength!

On the silks, we worked on basic and Russian climbing as well as figure-8 foot locks and many, many wraps. We worked on various poses including double foot lock splits (see Amy below). We looked at:-

foot rolls, inverting from side wrap amongst many others.

On the Lyra (hoop), we all tried various mounts including straddle and side mounts (they are soooooo hard!). We worked on various poses including man in the moon, mermaid, stag, back balance straddle, half back balance, gazelle, amazon and lots more...... Have a look at the photos below for a peek at how we got along.

This is Amy doing Half Back Balance

This is Charlotte doing the Crucifix.

Charlotte's Cross Wrap Straddle.

This is Emma doing the Stag.

Holly 's Gazelle Splits.

This is Charlotte & Holly doing Figure 8 foot lock & Cross back straddle.

Holly's Figure 8 foot lock splits.

We were extremely inspired by Joe's teaching and will continue to train and build confidence on the equipment. We are set to buy our own rig, silks and lyra VERY soon in the run up toZygote Festival, which will happen in Sleaford in October 2013. There will then be quarterly workshops, classes & intensives for children, young people and adults to get involved.

Joe (who taught us in Birmingham) runs circusMASH UK which is the leading circus company in the West Midlands. Contact him to book workshops, performances, intensives and other training in the circus disciplines. We would highly recommend it!

Keep checking our website, Facebook & Twitter (@artsNKDance) for the latest news.



Summer Primary Dance Festival!

On Wednesday 22^nd May, the “North Kesteven School and artsNK Primary Dance Festival” took place at the Terry O’Toole Theatre and was a huge success. Once again, the shows were a sell out, with parents, brothers, sisters and relatives being treated to a night of street and contemporary dance.

Photo: Jane Harrison

 

Photo: Jane Harrsion

Over the past 6 weeks, local primary schools had taken part in this project and worked with a dance artist from artsNK. They worked together, to create a dance piece based on the transition from a primary school to a secondary school. Also performing in the show were some groups from North Kesteven School.

The primary school children had a fantastic time watching the rest   of the groups in their technical rehearsals. For most of the  children, it was their first time performing on stage and you could tell they were extremely excited. The North Kesteven groups also enjoyed performing, and were a very high standard.

Thank you to all the groups who took part from Redwood Waddington, Witham St.Hughs and The Meadows Primaries as well as Maneuver (Boys dance group), Transcendance ( Yr 7-8 girls dance group) and the Yr13 BTEC Dancers from NK School.

Photo: Jane Harrison

Hello from Charlotte

Hi Everyone,

Some of you may already know me but I’m Charlotte the new Youth Dance Intern. I am graduating from the Unviersity of Lincoln BA Dance course in September but I have been volunteering and working for artsnk for over a year.

 I have been very busy leading workshops for the North Kesteven School and artsNK Primary Festival. I worked with two groups from Redwood Waddington Primary School to create dances for the performance last night at the Terry O Toole Theatre. It was a brilliant evening and all the pieces from the primary schools and NK school groups were brilliant.

Now that this project has finished, I am working with a group for the Solidarity project. I worked on this project last year and am lucky to be involved again. The performance is on the 28th June so a few weeks left to perfect the piece!

I'm also helping to organise some workshops in the summer so keep your eyes peeled for those.

The dance team visit Breakin' Convention!

On Bank Holiday Monday (6th May), the dance team went to Sadler's Wells in London to watch and experience it's annual international festival of hip hop theatre; Breakin' Convention.

What is Breakin' Convention we here you ask?
Breakin' Convention has been producing THE critically acclaimed International Festival of Hip Hop Dance Theatre since 2004 at Sadler's Wells, featuring the very best, most influential artists from around the corner and around the world! This year's festival was it's 10th ANNIVERSARY! #10yearsstrong and the Monday evening performance featured UK Allstars- dance pieces presented by the best hip hop and streetdance groups in this country.

Who did we see?
We saw some top acts from the UK urban dance scene including Bad Taste Cru who presented their latest work "Faust". A mashup of swing, Charleston and bboying, this piece had us whooping and hollering! Bad Taste Cru (based in Newcastle) performed at Terry O'Toole Theatre earlier in the year, they delighted audiences in Lincoln, and they certainly didn't fail in London!

We also saw pieces by Birdgang Dance Company, Avant Garde Dance, Unity UK, Jukebox Collective and Company Decalage. The former company, Company Decalage, ran by Mickael Marso Riviere, have been to Lincolnshire before and Marso has taught many of our young people! The show also featured Impact Dance, led by Hakeem Onibudo- who Amy is undertaking leadership masterclasses with on the #ABLE programme until July.

Finally, the evening finished with some of the most jawdropping, original and innovative pieces of hip hop theatre we have ever seen....... ZooNation UK presented their latest duet with pro dancers Tommy Franzen and Teneisha Bonner. Intricate storytelling and raw physicality made this piece amazing. Kate Prince, ZooNation's choreographer, never fails to present entertaining dance. And the show ended with Boy Blue Entertainment's "Emancipation of Expressionism". Only one word can describe it - phenomenal. If you haven't seen Boy Blue's work, make time to see it.

If there's one thing we learnt about going to Breakin' Convention, it's that Lincolnshire needs more hip hop dance theatre in it's life. The dance team are going to do it..... #watchthisspace

For more information about Breakin' Convention and Jonzi D's (Festivals artistic director) pioneering work go to: http://www.breakinconvention.com and http://www.breakinconvention.com/artists/jonzi-d