The intensive day that took place last Thursday 24th at Paddington Arts Centre was an initiative set up by Jenny Hammond our education manager; it was the first time the company has done anything like this so the fourteen participants were the guinea pigs if you will. The day was lead by Bawren Tavaziva and three of the company’s dancers Chevon, Hannah and Kristina.
The day started off with class taken by Bawren Tavaziva, which I took part in; it was a jam-packed hour and a half, starting off with a warm up including tendues, jumps and pliés, moving into a contemporary sequence that was influenced with African movement. I thoroughly enjoyed the class and I felt pushed and my memory was challenged with the fast pace. It was nice to rehearse and perform this section in twos as we got to use the whole space so we could make our movements full out.
(Dancers in class with Bawren)
After a quick break we had a session learning some repertoire from ‘Double Take’ taught by Kristina. It was great to be able to learn a manageable chunk of the new piece and it was very helpful having Bawren there to remind us what certain sections meant and the particular way in which they should be performed. The solo we learnt was about struggle and grief so included lots of sharp movements with our hands and strong jumps, the solo ended with a strained movement leading to a release, showing that the weight of the struggle had been lifted.
Learning a duet from a section of ‘Double Take’ that Bawren adapted made up the final section of the day which I observed. The dancers loved this part as they were able to really get to grips with the material and interact with one another. The duet required strength and style to make it look slick, and after having learnt it Bawren went through the intentions for each part, after this it was great to see how things changed in the way some of the dancers executed the movement. The dancers repeated the duet a few times and each time it was possible to see them improving and becoming more comfortable and confident with it.
(Bawren and Kristina demonstrating movement)
To sum up the day in three words: professional, intense and eye-opening, it’s definitely something that the participants would do again and hopefully next time we can get even more people involved. The feedback from the class was excellent, with most of the dancers wanting the day to be longer and in a bigger space; this is an initiative that the company will look into offering again as it was so successful, watch this space!
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