Events Calendar

SCHOOL HOLIDAY DANCE WORKSHOPS.

Come and learn West African style Dance and Creative Movement to live drums.

Three classes being run:

 under 5's fun class, 10.15am

 5 & 6yrs, 11am

 7-10yrs, 12.15pm

$5 per child (family discounts available)

 Come dressed in something comfortable & bare feet.

 Email [email protected] or call Anna or Matt 03 448 5008, 0226522779.

Bio...

Anna has been dancing since the age of seven, training in RAD ballet and Jazz before moving on to contemporary dance while at university.  After some time away from the dance community to pursue travel, adventure sports and study yoga, Anna was lured back to dance while living in Perth, Australia through a friend who was attending classes in African dance.  This was instant love for Anna as the rhythms, movement and stories that came with traditional African dance were irresistable to her.  This was followed by a four year study and exploration of African dance for Anna, with numerous travelling dancers and musicians  from West Africa making their way to Perth to share their love of dance and music through workshops and short study intensives.  Anna also studied this style of dance under several practitioners living in the Perth area and regularly performed at festivals, parties, dance events and special corporate events.

Since returning to NZ Anna has gathered all her experience and resources together to start dancing and teaching dance here.  The grooves are infectious and the moves beautiful, explosive and depict aspects of life in traditional communities.

Matt's love of music was discovered early on with an introduction to the guitar through his older brother and friend who were playing guitar together.  Matt took to the guitar instantly and progressed through the formative stages of guitar playing with ease, teaching himself leads by inspirational rock groups such as ACDC.  Matt largely taught himself the guitar, learning by ear and was soon playing in bands with friends and regularly performing at local venues around Taranaki.  Matt also discovered he enjoyed singing and drumming and with these talents made himself a very valuable band member. 

Matt moved to Perth to pursue his passion for music and spent a year studying the first year of a diploma at TAFE college in music performance.  This year was also spent alongside his partner Anna, who was learning African dance and listening to a lot of African music!  This spawned a new interest for Matt in African rhythms and he started drumming with some local drumming groups and attended several workshops with drummers travelling from West Africa.  Matt and Anna's move back to NZ has helped them develop a close relationship in music and dance together and as a team they are fun, dynamic and the joy they hold for rhythm and movement is obvious in their performance!

Location

Central Stories Museum & Art Gallery