Dance 17 Showcase
On Friday 10 November Darwin High School held its annual end of year Dance Performance. The performance showcased the incredible talent of the Darwin High School Dance students and was described by the audience as entertaining, engaging and exciting.
By Dance Teacher, Sarah Calver
The forty-two Stage 1 dancers presented a range of new works. The choreographic works by Joanna Noonan, artistic director of SLIDE, were captivating, hilarious and delightful - the Ocker Ozzie BBQ saw the dancers transform themselves into many amusing Ozzie characters including the Shazza’s, Bazza’s, surfers, hippies, tradies and key family members and they all performed a myriad of antics to the ‘Land Down Under”; similarly Business As Usual took us behind the scenes of a day in the Office and the dancers portrayed a range of extraordinary characters that illustrated the exceptional choreographic patterns and sequences created by Noonan - Office secretaries twirling effortlessly around the stage on chairs to the hierarchy of getting into the lift to the unexpected activities at an office party. A truly fun and imaginative work.
Imanuel Dado’s choreographic work based on Pina Bausch demonstrates the pivotal learning that goes beyond the classroom and connects students to the dance industry, Macon Rileys work showed the outstanding talent of 8 stage 1 dancers at DHS, Arthur Lariosa’s emotive duet was performed with seamless excellence, the Bollywood was what it should be fun and energetic and Rochelle Cabry’s Hip Hop was extremely captivating and was beyond sensational - all the dancers Year 10 and 11 bought the audience and stage to life with their incredible dance moves. Rochelle’s work was a genuine highlight of the evening.
The year 10s other performance work celebrated their exchanges with guest choreographers through entertaining works that illustrated their passion for dance and their performances were crowd pleasers.
Our guest graduating DHS dance students wowed audiences with their sophisticated and complex movements and the Darwin School of Ballet excerpts from Sleeping Beauty were a delightful glimpse into the high caliber performances this Ballet School produces.
Chris Osborne’s lighting was stunning and added to the visual impact each dance work created.
Once again the Dance Dept Showcase attracted a to capacity audience - friends, families, colleagues and general community members. Audience feedback has been exceptional. Congratulations to everyone involved: performers, choreographers, teachers and volunteers.
