Thursday, 24 April 2014

DANCE CREW PERFORMS FOR RUSOORD RESIDENTS



April saw Dance Crew performing at Rusoord Retirement village.  It was an experience we all enjoyed and the packed performing area, the dinning area, was filled with smiling people which made us feel it was reciprocal.  They applauded strongly after each item with some holding their hands out to the dancers.

The event was extremely well organized by the centre’s Event & Marketing Co-ordinator Charmaine Baker and ran very smoothly.

I set the ball rolling by introducing myself and told the audience a little bit about our school and company.  I then asked who in the audience had learnt ballet.  There was quite a show of hands. I realized we had a knowledgeable audience and invited everyone to give us feedback afterwards.  One lady and her husband wanted to sit as close as they could as she had been a dancer and she wanted to see the dancers feet up close.

We started with a short barre sequence to warm up the dancers proceeding to an adagio followed by sequences of allegro including turns from the corner.  There were a few tricky moments when the grande jetes were performed as the hanging lights were fine for standing under but were not meant for people jumping fairly high with their arms extended as well.  The audience loved these athletic movements and by the time they were doing pose turns and fouettes from the corner they were getting really excited and applauding each dancer as they proceeded one after the other to do their multiple turns.

Leanne's Feet
Whilst the dancers changed into pointe shoes I discussed our Precious Gem production. The dancers would be performing the Diamond Suite.  The musical composer of the work, Gordon Mackay was introduced to the audience.

When we finished the performance there were interesting queries as to size of the company, funding, where we were situated and when the next season would take place.  No one showed any sign of wanting to rush away.  Then people started to move towards us to talk individually.  The lady who wanted to see the feet was ecstatic and thought the dancer’s feet were all so beautiful. Although Diamond is a contemporary piece, on pointe, the audience was fascinated by the dancers and the music.

Thank you Rusoord for inviting us and thank you to all members of the audience I sincerely hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

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