NZ School of Dance Graduation Season Performances 2011

New Zealand School of Dance students Zoë Dunwoodie, Samantha Hines and Simone Lapka. Photography by Stephen A’Court.

Media Release

New Zealand School of Dance Graduation Season Performances

November in Wellington sees the return of the highly popular New Zealand School of Dance Graduation Season. Showcasing the graduating students of New Zealand’s pre-eminent dance training institution, these performances of ballet classics and newly-created choreography cast light on both tradition and innovation.

This vibrant season of dance from the 1800s to today features works by some of history’s greatest choreographers. Danish ballet master August Bournonville’s charming Napoli Divertissements of 1842 is invested with captivating light and shade while Emeralds by the great 20th century choreographer George Balanchine sparkles with modernism.

Legendary US choreographer Paul Taylor’s Company B illuminates dominant social issues of the 1940s and the emotions surrounding them. Set to the big band era songs of the Andrews Sisters, this work provides a riveting finale to the programme.

Particular highlights are three absorbing, gutsy and thought-provoking new works by New Zealanders Maria Dabrowska and Ross McCormack and influential Australian choreographer Lina Limosani.

A graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts, Lina Limosani is emerging as a choreographer of note. She has been a member of Australian Dance Theatre (ADT), was nominated in 2008 for three BOH Cameronian Arts Awards in Malaysia and has recently worked with physical theatre director Al Seed on a show for Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Lina is visiting New Zealand to create a work especially for this year’s NZSD Graduation Season, and is living up to her reputation for intense, physically dynamic choreography.

Wellingtonian Maria Dabrowska, praised for her full-length work Carnival Hound which toured in early October to the Body Festival in Christchurch, is now enjoying the opportunity to flex her choreographic muscle on the New Zealand School of Dance students. “They are amazingly versatile dancers, so I can really explore the limits of my movement. It’s exciting to work with students who are about to head off to join top dance companies in New Zealand and overseas”.

New Zealand School of Dance students train full-time for up to three years to gain a qualification in dance performance. With many of its graduates reaching the heights of the dance world, the School is internationally recognised as one of the southern hemisphere’s leading dance conservatoires.

“[Emeralds] must rank with Balanchine's most imaginative choreography” New York Times

“Carefully crafted dance theatre with the emphasis firmly on the dance.” Dance Australia on Ross McCormack

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

New Zealand School of Dance student Laura Jones. Photography by Stephen A’Court.

ENDS

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