Let’s dance! New Zealand dancing hits the big time

There’s much fun to be had on the dance floor, whether your thing is ballroom dancing, salsa, ballet, hip hop or break dancing. Even if you’re an amateur or closet dance fiend (dancing ’til the wee hours in dimly-lit nightclubs) there’s something about the combination of music and body movement that’s meditative, compelling and mystical. Dance is one of the most tribal things you can do.

The other night, I partook of some culture in the Christchurch Arts Festival. This wasn’t just any old culture, mind, it was a live dance theatre event! Of course dancing has really taken off as a spectator sport and as a pastime since Dancing with the Stars first hit our screens in 2005, but this was something quite different.

I Want to Dance Better at Parties was a dynamic and emotionally charged performance from Melbourne based dance troupe, Chunky Move, founded by artistic director Gideon Obarzanek in 1995. I don’t quite know how to describe the performance, which may have something to do with their self-described “distinct yet unpredictable brand of genre-defying dance performance.” It landed somewhere in the shared space between dance, film and documentary, examining the lives of five men and their experiences of dance. From real life experiences, the dance itself branched out to become a separate entity, while still remaining part of the tales being told. Let’s call it interpretational, life-inspired dance. Whatever, it was cool. Watching those dancers move so effortlessly and beautifully, commanding their bodies in ways that seem near impossible, was inspiring.

If you think this might be your cup of tea, why not check out some dance entertainment, find a dance event to drag your loved one along to, or learn how to kick up your heels in style with a dance class or two?